Dana and I decided to catch the 4:55pm train from Woodbourne Station for a visit with my mom after work. The train didn’t actually arrive at the station until 5:30pm and we should have heeded the warning but instead we boarded and purchased our tickets to University City Station from the conductor. The train moved slower than usual and sometimes stopped completely on the tracks, about 5 stops into the journey the announcement was made that our train would not continue to the airport but would make the 30th Street Station its final stop. Dana and I looked at each other in annoyance, 30th Street is the stop right before University City, we could walk to the hospital from there but we had left our heavier coats in our cars so that we didn’t have to carry them on the train. Upon arrival at 30th Street we asked at the Passenger Services desk for the next train to University City and were told one was arriving late on Track 6 and we could still make it. We ran to Track 6 as the train pulled in and asked the conductor if they were stopping at UC and grabbed a seat when she said yes, by this time it was 6:45 and fairly dark outside.
Lesson number one: Don’t believe a Septa conductor. The train skipped the UC stop and Dana and I were forced to go along for the ride.
Lesson number two: Don’t ever get off at the Darby Station.
Dana and I arrived at the Darby Station at 7:00pm and explained to the conductor that they had skipped our stop. She apologized and explained to us that we needed to go to the other side of the tracks to get the next Northbound train back to UC and then the train was gone. Dana and I looked around and realized that this was surely not an ideal situation. In order to get to the other side of the tracks to catch a Northbound train we had to climb 100 steps up to street level (I’m exaggerating, there were only 98 steps) go across the highway and down the steps on the other side. We would have just cut across the tracks and saved the steps but a beat up chain link fence separates the two sets of tracks.
As we approached the tiny cubicle shelter to wait for the next train we realized there wasn’t a single person around. It was extremely dark and cold, half the street lights were broken out and the terminal shelter smelled suspiciously of urine. I used my cell phone to call my sister Chris and had her find out when the next train came to Darby. Our conversation went along the lines of “Hello Chris, its cold, dark, not a good neighborhood and I am freaking out. Please find the next train.” Chris called back a few minutes later to tell us that the next train would come through at 7:24pm. Wonderful!—It was 7:16pm by then so we would most likely not die of hypothermia before the next train! As we were waiting we listened to the sounds in the distance; people fighting, bottles breaking, rap music and police sirens.
7:19pm: A person started making their way down the steps to the platform and I asked Dana if it was a man or a woman. She said she couldn’t tell but if it were a man he looked pretty small and she was sure we could take him. It turned out to be a girl of about 20 and Dana said it couldn’t be such a bad area if this young girl felt safe coming to catch the train alone (my sister, forever the optimist). I was thinking the girl was most likely a prostitute judging from the way she was dressed—welcome to the world of suburban mentality, Jodey! Please forgive me.
The train headlights could be seen approaching the station at 7:24pm on the dot and the relief was immense as we stepped away from the cold terminal shelter that smelled more like an outhouse and boarded a nice, warm passenger car. I asked if the train would be stopping at UC and didn’t really care what the conductor said because I would be damned if I was getting back off!
We arrived at the hospital by 8:00pm to allow my sister Kelly and cousin Helen to finally leave for the night. Kelly let us know that my mom had been agitated most of the day and had not eaten lunch or dinner; she seemed to calm down when Dana and I arrived. I think she was exhausted by that time, I know Dana and I were! We talked with my mom for an hour, she cried for a few minutes about all the blood they kept taking but we were able to calm her down and she finally fell deep asleep by 9:15pm. Dana and I left our number with the nurse with instructions to call if my mom had a rough night and then made a run for the 9:38pm train back to Woodbourne.
The train was on time and we boarded, purchased our tickets and settled in for the hour long journey home. We discussed my mom’s condition and focused on some of her improvements now that the doctors had stopped the sedatives. We reveled in the fact that she was smiling and alert during most of our conversations before she finally drifted off to sleep. The conductor announced the Neshaminy Falls station and we watched some passengers disembark before the train started moving again. A few feet after the station the train slowed and inched back to the station and stopped. Now what?!
We stood for 10 minutes and the train started to the Langhorne Station where we were greeted by dozens of police lights cutting through the darkness. The train was forced to stop 5 feet from the platform due to the fact that some drunken fool had decided to drive his car on the tracks. Police chased after him on foot and finally got the vehicle stopped but the problem now was getting the little car off the track. Dana and I sat there thinking “This can’t be happening” as we watched the tow truck arrive. We discussed getting something to eat while the tow truck driver hooked up the car and decided the diner would be our best choice as he pulled the car from the tracks.
We made it to the diner around 11:30 and received the welcome you can only get from a diner waitress, “You wanna sit down?” We were seated in a booth on the far side of the diner and ordered two cheese steak deluxe plates and drained our water glasses while we waited for our order. The “happy” waitress seated a family in the booth across from us and we sat in silence while they placed their orders. We should have known what we were in for when one of the daughters ordered low-fat chocolate milk but our dork-family alert was a little off.
Our cheese steaks arrived a few minutes later, they were a little light on the “deluxe” but the fries were hot, crispy and piled high so it made up for the fact that the sandwiches looked like they split one wafer thin minute steak between two rolls. We ate in silence and listened to the conversation of our neighbors. The daughters were in their early twenties and mostly talked to their parents about the college experience until dad pulled out his I Phone and things went from bad to worse. He had actually scanned in his daughters art work from when they were in elementary school and the family went through each picture admiring the show of artwork. Now, I know you are all thinking how sweet that is and maybe I am just a cold-hearted bitch looking for the front row seat in hell but I have to say it, “Who fucking does that?!”
I got home well after midnight, agreeing wholeheartedly with Dana when she said we would be driving the next day!
Lesson number one: Don’t believe a Septa conductor. The train skipped the UC stop and Dana and I were forced to go along for the ride.
Lesson number two: Don’t ever get off at the Darby Station.
Dana and I arrived at the Darby Station at 7:00pm and explained to the conductor that they had skipped our stop. She apologized and explained to us that we needed to go to the other side of the tracks to get the next Northbound train back to UC and then the train was gone. Dana and I looked around and realized that this was surely not an ideal situation. In order to get to the other side of the tracks to catch a Northbound train we had to climb 100 steps up to street level (I’m exaggerating, there were only 98 steps) go across the highway and down the steps on the other side. We would have just cut across the tracks and saved the steps but a beat up chain link fence separates the two sets of tracks.
As we approached the tiny cubicle shelter to wait for the next train we realized there wasn’t a single person around. It was extremely dark and cold, half the street lights were broken out and the terminal shelter smelled suspiciously of urine. I used my cell phone to call my sister Chris and had her find out when the next train came to Darby. Our conversation went along the lines of “Hello Chris, its cold, dark, not a good neighborhood and I am freaking out. Please find the next train.” Chris called back a few minutes later to tell us that the next train would come through at 7:24pm. Wonderful!—It was 7:16pm by then so we would most likely not die of hypothermia before the next train! As we were waiting we listened to the sounds in the distance; people fighting, bottles breaking, rap music and police sirens.
7:19pm: A person started making their way down the steps to the platform and I asked Dana if it was a man or a woman. She said she couldn’t tell but if it were a man he looked pretty small and she was sure we could take him. It turned out to be a girl of about 20 and Dana said it couldn’t be such a bad area if this young girl felt safe coming to catch the train alone (my sister, forever the optimist). I was thinking the girl was most likely a prostitute judging from the way she was dressed—welcome to the world of suburban mentality, Jodey! Please forgive me.
The train headlights could be seen approaching the station at 7:24pm on the dot and the relief was immense as we stepped away from the cold terminal shelter that smelled more like an outhouse and boarded a nice, warm passenger car. I asked if the train would be stopping at UC and didn’t really care what the conductor said because I would be damned if I was getting back off!
We arrived at the hospital by 8:00pm to allow my sister Kelly and cousin Helen to finally leave for the night. Kelly let us know that my mom had been agitated most of the day and had not eaten lunch or dinner; she seemed to calm down when Dana and I arrived. I think she was exhausted by that time, I know Dana and I were! We talked with my mom for an hour, she cried for a few minutes about all the blood they kept taking but we were able to calm her down and she finally fell deep asleep by 9:15pm. Dana and I left our number with the nurse with instructions to call if my mom had a rough night and then made a run for the 9:38pm train back to Woodbourne.
The train was on time and we boarded, purchased our tickets and settled in for the hour long journey home. We discussed my mom’s condition and focused on some of her improvements now that the doctors had stopped the sedatives. We reveled in the fact that she was smiling and alert during most of our conversations before she finally drifted off to sleep. The conductor announced the Neshaminy Falls station and we watched some passengers disembark before the train started moving again. A few feet after the station the train slowed and inched back to the station and stopped. Now what?!
We stood for 10 minutes and the train started to the Langhorne Station where we were greeted by dozens of police lights cutting through the darkness. The train was forced to stop 5 feet from the platform due to the fact that some drunken fool had decided to drive his car on the tracks. Police chased after him on foot and finally got the vehicle stopped but the problem now was getting the little car off the track. Dana and I sat there thinking “This can’t be happening” as we watched the tow truck arrive. We discussed getting something to eat while the tow truck driver hooked up the car and decided the diner would be our best choice as he pulled the car from the tracks.
We made it to the diner around 11:30 and received the welcome you can only get from a diner waitress, “You wanna sit down?” We were seated in a booth on the far side of the diner and ordered two cheese steak deluxe plates and drained our water glasses while we waited for our order. The “happy” waitress seated a family in the booth across from us and we sat in silence while they placed their orders. We should have known what we were in for when one of the daughters ordered low-fat chocolate milk but our dork-family alert was a little off.
Our cheese steaks arrived a few minutes later, they were a little light on the “deluxe” but the fries were hot, crispy and piled high so it made up for the fact that the sandwiches looked like they split one wafer thin minute steak between two rolls. We ate in silence and listened to the conversation of our neighbors. The daughters were in their early twenties and mostly talked to their parents about the college experience until dad pulled out his I Phone and things went from bad to worse. He had actually scanned in his daughters art work from when they were in elementary school and the family went through each picture admiring the show of artwork. Now, I know you are all thinking how sweet that is and maybe I am just a cold-hearted bitch looking for the front row seat in hell but I have to say it, “Who fucking does that?!”
I got home well after midnight, agreeing wholeheartedly with Dana when she said we would be driving the next day!
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