The Umbrela...

I got off at Kendall Station outbound this morning and did my usual sprint to be the first on the escalator.

I won!

I bounded up the escalator two steps at a time and exited onto a cold gray rainy day in Cambridge.

That's when I remembered that I had an umbrella with me on the train...

In a panic, I doubled back and swam against the tide of people exiting the station.

I got to the tram just in time to see the doors close and the train pull away.

Oh, no! My wife's going to kill me! She's had that umbrella for 15 years now.

Dejectedly, I walked to the information booth and told the attendant that I had left my umbrella on the train.

He shook his head, pulled out his radio, and called the Harvard Station, two stops down the line.

- Where were you sitting? - he asked

- Second car, near the front - I said.

He asked for a description, passed the information to Harvard Station, and then we waited.

- Does this happen often? - I asked.

- Pretty much - he said. - Usually it's a cell phone or a laptop, but umbrellas are not uncommon.

And so we waited.

Other trains arrived and let passengers out. Some looked at me standing there. Their eyes had question marks; probably wondering why I was just standing there doing nothing.

Finally, a call comes back on the radio. They found the umbrella.

- How do you want it delivered? - he asked - you can pick it up at Harvard, of we can bring it back here.

- Really? If they can send it back, that would be great!

- Fine. Go to the inbound side of the station and go all the way to the end, where the first car stops. The conductor will have your umbrella. The attendant on the other side will let you in, so you don't have to pay another fare.

- Wow! Great! Thanks!

I went to the other side to wait...

I was feeling really silly that I had inconvenienced so many people, yet at the same time amazed at the courtesy that the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) was extending to a single customer.

Finally, the train arrived and I walked up to the conductor on the first car.

- Excuse me, I'm the guy who lost an umbrella on the train. - I said.

- No problem. - she said - Which of these umbrellas is yours?

When I looked inside the conductor's cab, I saw my umbrella next to three or four others...

for the Pacific Time Zone crowd...

:hi:

they are pretty good. I like riding from Quincy Center up to Porter. Beats the hell out of driving! And, it gets me to school in a timely fashion.

We had CLA Honors Convocation this evening. That was fun. Have to be on campus in cap and gown at 8am Friday. Weeeee!

:hi:

I know we slam them a lot, and sometimes they deserve it.

But other times, they just amaze me...

And congrats on your graduation, bi-baby!

When you and Sniffa want to get together, say the word. :hi:

Thank you! :hi:

The T people can be really good at times.

every umbrella there belonged to another doofus, just like me...

You don't hear about that kind of thing in this day and age very often. :)