Come on!

(Picture GOB from Arrested Development saying it.)

Today, the first big nor'eastern of the season rolled in, dumping a good foot of snow on our grand ole' Beantown. When I first looked out the window of my office building, it was lightly snowing and I thought to myself, "Gosh! This is what these silly people are griping about. Obviously, they've never seen real snow." A few minutes later, I returned to check on the status of the storm and found that it had grown to something much more substantial. Fortunately, my collegue (who is 8 months pregnant and working from home) told me that I should leave work early to get home before the storm gets worse.

Having her permission to leave early, I left the office around 1:00 PM. On the way to the subway station, I stopped to pick up a wrap that I planned to eat once I got home. (I've had these wraps before and knew that they can last a while before getting soggy). Little did I know that it would take me 2+ hours to get to my door.

For those who don't know (and sorry if you don't care), this is my typical trip home from work:
1. walk to the Arlington stop on the Green Line
2. fortunately, I stay on the Green Line for only two stops and I switch over the Red Line at Park Street
3. then I take the Red Line all the way to Davis Square
4. at Davis, I pick up the 87 bus that drops me off right across from my apartment building

Depending on wait times, the whole thing takes about an hour.

Today, all went pretty fine up to the Davis Square part. At Davis Square, I waited for my 87 bus for 45 minutes! During this time, I called a few family members just to chat, read my book (Gulliver's Travels), and thought about the other options that I had to get home. None of them would be very quick and in this weather, I convinced myself that waiting for the bus, even for a while, would be faster than taking the train to another stop to get another bus. 'Cause who knew when that other bus would come!? That's why I waited for so long. I even passed up an 88 bus, which would have gotten me 4 blocks from my house, in good faith that my 87 would pull up just behind like she normally does. Well, she didn't.

Finally, I cut my losses and started walking home, which from Davis Square is usually about a 30 minute walk. At this point, it was still snowing rather hard and I was wearing a sort of a pea-coat, no scarf, no mittens, no hat. Fortunately, I remembered that I had an umbrella in my bag. I slugged my way home, carrying my heavy computer bag over my shoulder and pulling my long sweater cuffs over my hands so I could hold my umbrella. As I was walking, I drew strength from two sources: the pioneers and the mountaineers. (I just finished reading "Touching the Void" about an amazing survival story - hence mountaineers.) Thinking about these 2 brave parties, I tried to be grateful that what I was doing was child's play by comparison (a fact that was made quite evident by the children I saw out playing in the same nasty weather).

When I was within 100 yards or less of our place, I was scraping the barrel of my reserves. I was however pleased with myself for making the executive decision to walk home instead of waiting for the bus that apparently never came. And then, I heard from behind me the familiar sound of a bus sqealing to a halt, opening its door and a taped voice saying "Route 87 - Arlington Center." "Aaaaaaaaaggghhhh! Are you kidding me!" I said out loud - quite loud.

I walked some more only to very shortly hear a second 87 bus stop on the road beside me.

I mean, come on!