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Oct. 7th, 2005 09:36 amI decided to take the early train this morning. (The early train gives me time to buy juice or go to the post office or, in this case, go to the Fair Food farmstand; the late train gets me to work exactly on time.) I got on the train... and saw all these people on cellphones looking distressed. "Hmmm," I thought, as the out-of-the-ordinary on public transit is never good. And so I asked the woman next to me if there was something going on.
Turns out that there's some problem or delay, and I'm going "good thing I took the early train," and then the conductor comes through and tells us that it's not just a delay. No; there's "police activity" at Market East, no trains are entering center city, and if we want to get downtown we'd better get off at North Broad and find the Broad Street Subway. (Note for non-Philadelphians: North Broad is in North Philadelphia. The station's surrounded by burnt-out factories. It is not exactly a place you want to be.)
So basically everyone who wants to get to work on time gets off the train and heads off to walk the few blocks to Broad and Lehigh, where... the subway station is so crowded that people can't even get down the stairs. I was contemplating how long it would take to clear out that many people, when I saw a bus coming down Broad, and immediately thought "wait! the only bus that comes down Broad here is the C! and that goes to City Hall!" This meant attempting to struggle backward against the current of traffic (and even saying "excuse me" and getting pushy, people wouldn't step to the side, since they were so focused on getting on the subway). I got to the bus stop with about twenty other people who were not blindly following directions, and we piled onto the bus. I barely made it on, and ended up in front of the yellow line. The bus driver got into the left lane and shot down Broad; there was no way anyone else would fit, so why get their hopes up?
Aaaaand to City Hall, to Reading Terminal on my way to the trolley, past Market East (the whole building was closed off by police tape!), down to the trolley, off at 19th and Market, down to work, and me barely five minutes late.
Of course, I didn't get to go to the Fair Food farmstand, but what can you do?
ETA: Turns out that the police were panicked by the bomb threat to NYC, and a conductor saw someone "in military fatigues who had something bulky in his backpack." The police met the train at Market East, where the bomb dogs showed "special interest in the package." So they arrested him, evacuated the station and the 11th street Market-Frankford station, and waited... apparently two hours for the bomb squad. Who, after careful inspection, decided that the package was a propane tank. Le sigh.
Turns out that there's some problem or delay, and I'm going "good thing I took the early train," and then the conductor comes through and tells us that it's not just a delay. No; there's "police activity" at Market East, no trains are entering center city, and if we want to get downtown we'd better get off at North Broad and find the Broad Street Subway. (Note for non-Philadelphians: North Broad is in North Philadelphia. The station's surrounded by burnt-out factories. It is not exactly a place you want to be.)
So basically everyone who wants to get to work on time gets off the train and heads off to walk the few blocks to Broad and Lehigh, where... the subway station is so crowded that people can't even get down the stairs. I was contemplating how long it would take to clear out that many people, when I saw a bus coming down Broad, and immediately thought "wait! the only bus that comes down Broad here is the C! and that goes to City Hall!" This meant attempting to struggle backward against the current of traffic (and even saying "excuse me" and getting pushy, people wouldn't step to the side, since they were so focused on getting on the subway). I got to the bus stop with about twenty other people who were not blindly following directions, and we piled onto the bus. I barely made it on, and ended up in front of the yellow line. The bus driver got into the left lane and shot down Broad; there was no way anyone else would fit, so why get their hopes up?
Aaaaand to City Hall, to Reading Terminal on my way to the trolley, past Market East (the whole building was closed off by police tape!), down to the trolley, off at 19th and Market, down to work, and me barely five minutes late.
Of course, I didn't get to go to the Fair Food farmstand, but what can you do?
ETA: Turns out that the police were panicked by the bomb threat to NYC, and a conductor saw someone "in military fatigues who had something bulky in his backpack." The police met the train at Market East, where the bomb dogs showed "special interest in the package." So they arrested him, evacuated the station and the 11th street Market-Frankford station, and waited... apparently two hours for the bomb squad. Who, after careful inspection, decided that the package was a propane tank. Le sigh.
