Metro Mess Results in Evening Walk

Metro was a mess yesterday, so I skipped the Orange Line and took a taxi to meet up with a friend in Arlington, but it turned out that said friend got stuck on a Blue just short of Rosslyn and eventually had to cancel because no Orange Line trains were coming. Generally, it seems that when any line outside of the Red has a major problem, the delays cascade to the other non-Reds, since Orange runs with Blue, Blue merges with Yellow, and Yellow joins with Green, so later that night it was with trepidation that I descended into the Southwest Waterfront Metro — in time to see my train pulling out of the station, with an indefinite wait for the next one. (The signs were just showing the time, no arrival info.)

So I walked home. Yeah, it was DC at 10pm, and I thought I would get mugged at least twice, but the path up to the National Mall was well lit, patrolled often by MPD, and I spotted a few other people out and about whom I wouldn’t have expected would be out. A jogger was doing jumping jacks outside the American Indian Museum. The Capitol Terrace and Grant Memorial were deserted, the Capitol Reflecting Pool thawed and populated by sleeping ducks, the normal traffic of DC quieted to a hiss, surprisingly devoid of firetruck sirens for the evening.

So thanks for FUBARing yesterday, DC Metro. I got a nice, relaxing evening walk, and I saved $1.35 which would otherwise have been spent deep underground in a station listening to over-loud Metro Transit Police security reminders while waiting for a train that could have taken longer to arrive than it took to go on foot.

What’s that, Metro? Another track fire near Farragut North and doors opening themselves mid-transit, you say? Well, maybe I’ll save another $1.35 and walk again, then.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Roving Asian mendicant, can occasionally be seen wandering the streets of downtown Washington, muttering unintelligible gibberish to passers-by while pushing a “bag lady” shopping cart full of old blankets, American flags, soda cans, and healthy secondhand snacks from organic food shop dumpsters. Used to live in a cardboard box at 16th and K but the rent was too expensive.

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