Movers remorse: Red line vs Orange line
It's been 3 weeks since we moved.
I can literally jog to the Shady grove metro, ok jog is a strong word, but it is a 10 minute walk. Compared to my 30 minute bus ride to Vienna metro, this is a piece of cake. I get to office in half the time.
Shady Grove metro is unbelievably run down. The trains work, praise God! but the place is an old mess. I'm told New York has some really lousy stations but S.G takes the cup. I thought is was built in the 18th century but it was opened in 1984. The Vienna metro was opened in 1986 but it got a make over last year so right now I suffer from withdrawal symptoms. The comparison doesn't help.
Why didn't anybody tell me that everybody and their dog live in Maryland? There should be a sign post inscribed with the words"ALL ROADS LEAD TO MARYLAND!" For all the 11 stops no one gets off until we get to Shady Grove. With the Orange line, I knew loads of people would get off at Court house, Clarendon and Ballston, then there would be space for the rest of us to sit. But now eh! you wait paka you give up. As if that is not enough, there is only one escalator leading off the tracks. We all clog at the escalator like a swam of bees attempting to pollinate a single flower. It's not funny! People cut in and even push. So far passengers on the red line are rude and impatient, they don't say much but their actions speak loud. Even though Virginians were quick to speak when their feathers were ruffled, I still think the Orange line has a more courteous, organized and gracious lot.
Did I mention that the trains are tattered? Well, the red line trains are tattered beyond! On occasion I have hopped on to some decent ones but mostly they need a serious makeover. Once, I looked around and thanked God I didn't suffer from OCD otherwise walking to work would be a viable option. The cart walls were a blackish grey, with stains from eons ago. Evidently they are cleaned but I couldn't get past the stains. Your careful not to move around or hold anything lest you catch some crazy bug.
And why wasn't I told how unreliable the red line is? On my third day the train stopped at friendship heights and passengers were asked to disembark. They walked off like it was no big deal. The captain announced that someone was sick on board. Hmm strange! One passenger is sick and 1000 people are asked to get off? Wouldn't it have been easier to get the sick person off instead? In the two years I used the Orange line, only once were we asked to off load the train and that was because one of the cart doors couldn't close.
I may be suffering movers remorse - a version of buyer's remorse.
Did I tell you Maryland has friendly neighbors? Aha! It does. Once people are off the stress of the commute they turn into decent folks again. Our lawn has been mowed, we have been welcomed to the neighborhood. The little kids smile and talk freely.
Who said I was complaining?
I can literally jog to the Shady grove metro, ok jog is a strong word, but it is a 10 minute walk. Compared to my 30 minute bus ride to Vienna metro, this is a piece of cake. I get to office in half the time.
Shady Grove metro is unbelievably run down. The trains work, praise God! but the place is an old mess. I'm told New York has some really lousy stations but S.G takes the cup. I thought is was built in the 18th century but it was opened in 1984. The Vienna metro was opened in 1986 but it got a make over last year so right now I suffer from withdrawal symptoms. The comparison doesn't help.
Why didn't anybody tell me that everybody and their dog live in Maryland? There should be a sign post inscribed with the words"ALL ROADS LEAD TO MARYLAND!" For all the 11 stops no one gets off until we get to Shady Grove. With the Orange line, I knew loads of people would get off at Court house, Clarendon and Ballston, then there would be space for the rest of us to sit. But now eh! you wait paka you give up. As if that is not enough, there is only one escalator leading off the tracks. We all clog at the escalator like a swam of bees attempting to pollinate a single flower. It's not funny! People cut in and even push. So far passengers on the red line are rude and impatient, they don't say much but their actions speak loud. Even though Virginians were quick to speak when their feathers were ruffled, I still think the Orange line has a more courteous, organized and gracious lot.
Did I mention that the trains are tattered? Well, the red line trains are tattered beyond! On occasion I have hopped on to some decent ones but mostly they need a serious makeover. Once, I looked around and thanked God I didn't suffer from OCD otherwise walking to work would be a viable option. The cart walls were a blackish grey, with stains from eons ago. Evidently they are cleaned but I couldn't get past the stains. Your careful not to move around or hold anything lest you catch some crazy bug.
And why wasn't I told how unreliable the red line is? On my third day the train stopped at friendship heights and passengers were asked to disembark. They walked off like it was no big deal. The captain announced that someone was sick on board. Hmm strange! One passenger is sick and 1000 people are asked to get off? Wouldn't it have been easier to get the sick person off instead? In the two years I used the Orange line, only once were we asked to off load the train and that was because one of the cart doors couldn't close.
I may be suffering movers remorse - a version of buyer's remorse.
Did I tell you Maryland has friendly neighbors? Aha! It does. Once people are off the stress of the commute they turn into decent folks again. Our lawn has been mowed, we have been welcomed to the neighborhood. The little kids smile and talk freely.
Who said I was complaining?
Congratulations on the move. Sounds like your metro stop is a piece of "art". If everybody gets off there you'd think it would make that one of the nicer stops they'd try to have in their metro system. Hmm, maybe not.
ReplyDeleteI hate moving house, thankfully I've only had to do that once in the last 5 years, and that was literally to about two blocks further away.
Piece of "art" indeed. It can make a grown woman cry at the end of a long day at work.
ReplyDeleteAlas! our moves are not over yet.