I wanted to go out to one of the larger malls here on Boxing Day (Known in the UK sometimes and St. Stephen’s Day or the Feast of St. Stephen) for one item and to take a look at the mayhem most love to enjoy. I managed to get my companions to be all ready fairly quickly, given that one of them is a three year old toddler. The trip to the mall was almost boring because it was so routine. We found a shopping cart at the patio entrance, so we put the three year old toddler out of harm’s way by putting her in the cart.
We got to the mall and watched as people lined up for each store! Some stores had security teams at the door, others just kept the doors open to allow one or two people at a time, and others just allowed the public to shop. Talk about goofy! Crowds walking around looking at all the signs, but not really a lot of them buying items, unless the item was marked way, way down.
I found one shop that had what I wanted, and yes, like a total goof I stood in line. We left there after I managed to get the item and headed off to eat. Even getting a table with chairs proved to be a marathon!
We picked up other items and headed for the trains to head home. Ohhh yeah, this is where hell’s doors opened wide. It was only about 3 PM, not anywhere near the closing time, so we figured it would be easy. Wrong, way wrong!
I need to explain a bit here, so hopefully this will be somewhat clear. There are actually two lines, one heading east, the other circles around from the city center, through two adjoining cities, then back to near the beginning (imagine a loop with a slight tag on it).
We paid our fares then headed up to get to the elevated train platform. First thing I noticed was the train heading on the alternate route was just sitting at the platform, not moving, and the system alarms were going off every thirty seconds or so. Hmmm not a good sign, but with the toddler along, the faster we managed to get home, the better.
Then an announcement put a chill on the idea. ” We are experiencing a problem with the switch near the station. We have a crew working on it, and the trains should be moving soon.” The switch in question is the one that separates the two routes. sending one train east, the other north then east. We stood on the platform for ten minutes, then twenty-five minutes, then three-quarters of an hour with heavy snow and a breeze blowing. Nadda, nothing, the train we saw on arrival was still in the station!
Phooey, the toddler was getting cold, we obviously were not going anywhere, so I suggested we head back into the mall or a local restaurant to warm up and maybe get a cup of coffee at least. I asked the train security if they had any idea how long the problem would take, they had no idea.
Great.
We took our packages, which were now starting to feel like we had bought twice what we actually did, and headed for a place to sit, warm up, and maybe, just maybe, get some coffee. Nope! Every bloody seat in every local restaurant was taken, and the toddler was now getting chilled. I suggested one restaurant that most seem to forget is there, and we did manage to get a table after a five minute wait.
Now to put a time line on this. We paid our fares at around three, waited for at least an hour, then headed off for coffee. We decided to order two meals and share with the toddler. Our thinking was to allow an hour, perhaps two, for the situation to be resolved. We ate leisurely, and the toddler curled up on the seat and slept for a bit.
Now, back to the train station. We got close to the station and saw one horrendous long line! No trains moving! A toddler that we are now alternately carrying while she slept. Oof! So, we sat at a bench and watched to see if the trains were moving. Nope. By this time the mall stores are beginning to close or are closed, so the number of people has multiplied considerably. Now it is eight thousand! Yeah, eight thousand people all waiting for trains going east or on the circle route, and not one car is moving. Adding to the problem with the switch, a tree branch fell on or near the tracks so they shut the trains down to clear THAT!
We remained on the benches, holding the sleeping three year old child in the snowy wind, watching to see if even ONE train would move. One finally did, heading into the city center and if there was room to add even a toothpick on that train, I would be surprised. Nothing going our way, nadda.
Finally we did see one train head east, then after twenty minutes or so, another came into the station, stayed for ten minutes, and voila! One train did move east!
The “normal” schedule for these trains is about seven to twelve minutes between trains, and often on busy days, every six minutes. Here was one train leaving one station every half an hour, with eight thousand people lined up for the trains!
I walked over to one of the nearby buses at the nearby stop and asked if the driver knew what was going on with the trains. He had absolutely no idea, the company that is in charge of the trains had not contacted the bus company to let them know. Damn! “Were there any buses being used to shuttle passengers over the bridge to the east. so we could at least get on the train beyond the switch?” Nope, nadda, all the coaches were dealing with snowfall and running late too. That was evident from the huge lines for each bus, some of which “normally” run every ten minutes. Damnation!
Back to the bench, watching almost in desperation at this point, for even two trains heading east, even if they were leaving every half hour. Nothing, and we are now being deluged with snow and a wind is rising.
Finally! We see two trains heading out, the crowd is moving, so we cross the street and try for the elevator. We had packages and a toddler to carry, so the elevator would save us a huge amount of time and energy. Damn and double-damn, the elevator (which we took when we arrived) was out!
Back across the street, through the crowds waiting for the buses, and up the escalator, and into the long, long lineup. We paid fares again. The total for the return trip was now up at ten dollars, plus our meal, plus at least four hours waiting time. Needless to say, my patience was shot!
We do get to the platform again, a train heading our way arrives, and we move as quickly as we could to one coach, find the seats, and sit. WE ARE NOT MOVING OFF THAT DAMN TRAIN!
Announcement. ” We are experiencing trouble with a switch on our tracks just past one station. We have a crew working on it.” Groan! It is now four hours and counting since we tried to board the train for the first time! We sit, in relative warmth, and the toddler curls up on the bench beside me to resume sleeping. Ten minutes go by, then fifteen, then twenty, then finally we move!
The train is totally packed, not even room for some to put their bags or backpacks down on the floor, but WE ARE MOVING! The train pulls into stations along the way, weary shoppers shuffle off, and we go again. I sit with trepidation as the train nears that bloody, damn, switch. DO NOT SCREW UP NOW! I scream in my mind. We get past it, then over that bloody bridge and off to the east. We get within one hundred yards of our stop and the train stops. Arghhh! Announcement. ” We are having trouble with a switch near one station, our trains are being held up.”
No kidding! The trains are being stopped, held up on the tracks with no place to go! This is the system they want to use for the Winter Olympics? Who the hell are they kidding?
We get going again after about fifteen minutes, and by this time it is NINE PM! We get off that bloody train, get on the bus and head for home. Snow is falling all day, so we know it is going to be a tough slog through snow with weary toddler and packages, but at least we are heading there.
We get off the bus, head up the middle of the snowy roads which only have small ruts in the snow from cars driven through earlier. It is heavy snow, and some of the “drivers” ( I use that term loosely here) have created some huge patches of ice from spinning their tires endlessly, apparently, to get around. The toddler has to walk with us, otherwise we would fall on her. We watch for cars, move aside to let them pass, and trudge onwards. We are just about home when one car comes at us, so I wave to get the driver to stop long enough for us to get out of the way, but he keeps coming! I have no place to go, the toddler with her mother has no place to go, and he just keeps coming at us! The Mom is standing on glare ice, I know I am on nothing but ice underfoot, so she grabs the toddler and lifts her up.
I lose it totally, and yell, ” You stupid dipshit! Stop!” Nope, he keeps coming straight at me! His car literally comes within inches of me, so I raise my right arm and with full, furious force, slam my full arm on his rear window. WHAM! Or as the Mom said, ” Ker Whooompah!” His car passes her with barely inches then stops! He backs up his car right at her! She bellows “Hey! Stop!” Then he starts ahead and pulls up about twenty feet ahead of us and yells at us. I bellow at him, ” You stupid dipshit, you damn near hit a baby! Fuck off! ” He pulls off to a driveway, then pulls in, and looks back at us.
Just as we get our tempers back down from a high boil, a truck comes down the street towards us, and, without any place to go, heads at us! This driver uses their brains and pulls wide, gives us room, and keeps going.
Why were we walking in the car ruts in the first place? Because not ONE DAMN HOUSE had their sidewalks clear, not ONE!
The driver that used his car to threaten and damn near back over a child and mother was Indo-Canadian, driving a black two-seater with tinted rear windows, and it was a Chrysler Intrepid. If things had gone just one tiny bit wrong, there would be a dead or injured child and mother, and charges of dangerous driving causing either death or injury. My fury still boils up now.
The Boxing Day of Hell is over, but definitely NOT forgotten.
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