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My heart goes out to anyone forced to use Metro on a daily basis — sure, it beats fighting that daily clusterfuck we call the Beltway, but the subway has become its own clusterfuck this week, especially on the dreaded red line.
I haven't been following the situation closely, but it's no doubt hangover from last week's deadly crash (on the red line). System managers may have legitimate reasons for the clogs (they've slowed speeds around the accident area and on the entire red line), but riding has become a royal aggravation. I'm lucky — I can walk to work and do most days. But I had to interview Wendy Williams today out in Friendship Heights. Getting there was no problem but I was heading back to Metro Center during rush hour and that was a challenge — by far the most crammed trains I've seen in my two and a half years in Washington. It may have been worse during the inauguration — a period in which I avoided Metro like the plague — but this was certainly busting-at-the-seams full.
Fortunately the AC on the trains was working splendidly. My nose was mere inches from the armpit of the girl I was all but pressed against. She was cute — if I were straight, I might have even been turned on. I asked a guy I crushed into during one of those famous Metro jolts — you know those seemingly unnecessary "jerks" where you swear the conductors are just fucking with you — if this was ordinary. He said it had only been since the crash.
I figured rush hour would be the worst, but I just came back from Dupont Circle to the Blade offices downtown and it was every bit as crammed as it was this morning. At 3 in the afternoon! Tourist crowds here for the fourth combined with the slowed trains? I guess, but sheesh. I feel blest to avoid this mob scene most of the time.
Yes, Metro is a wonderful thing — we have a great system that's handy and easy to navigate. And it would truly be hell if everybody who uses it drove instead. And yet the system struggles to pay for itself, seems plagued by constant delays, and, I swear, if I hear that announcement one more time about "First time riding Metro? Great let me tell you about our doors," I'm gonna scream. "No, this isn't my first fucking time riding Metro. Like probably 99.9 percent of the riders, I've ridden it a million times. I get the doors!"
 Posted by Joey DiGuglielmo,
Washington Blade Features Editor | Jun. 30 at
4:48 PM | JDiGuglielmo@washblade.com
Permalink: http://www.washblade.com/blog/blog.cfm?blog_id=25994
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