Monday, November 21, 2005

Just call me information

I give up. I officially give up. I am the one and only information booth at the BART station. I must have "information" painted on my coat or something.

Yes, it happened again.

I got to the BART station earlier than I have in a long time this morning. So when I headed up to the platform, and I heard the train operator yelling that the doors were closing on the SF train, I took my time. I didn't want to be that early, and I really hate being one of those people who bumrush the train. Since I didn't need to be on that train, I just moseyed along. I think I annoyed the train operator while I moseyed because she couldn't tell if I was an idiot and walking slowly to get to the front of the train and that I expected her to wait for me of if I was just a moseyer.

All of a sudden this man rushed off the train and runs to the other side of the platform, where the Richmond train was. I kept walking. But I smelled trouble.

The SF train took off, and I continued to wander to the beginning of the platform. Since the platform sign was saying the next SF train was only 4 cars long, I was trying to place myself in the best spot just in case it really was that small of a train. So there I was, milling around, looking at the head lights of the coming SF train, when I heard someone yell, "Excuse me!!!"

I turned around and looked, and low and behold, there was the guy who rushed off the train. He was at least 15 feet away from me and walking my way.

"Which train goes to Oakland first? Which one should I get on?" he asked me.

Here we go again. Yet another confused person who needs to get to Oakland and instead of talking to the station agent down below or figuring this out online before arriving, he assumes I'm giving out free information this morning.

"Take that one," I yelled back while pointing to the Richmond train. I really wanted to tell him he's an idiot for running off the SF train since it goes through Oakland as well, but that made me think of the other day when I was trying to figure out which station that other lady needed to get off at. I couldn't just assume he was getting off at the Oakland stations both trains go through.

"Wait, which station are you getting off at?" I asked him.

"Oakland," he told me, and then I guess he had a moment of clarity, and included the key information I needed to know, "Oakland Airport/Coliseum."

"Yah, take that train," I told him again.

He thanked me and was on his way. It's too bad he didn't ask my doppelganger on the SF BART train he was on earlier. Because there's got to be another information person at every station and on every train that looks like me or is me or just acts like me. I simply can't be the only one.

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