Morning Commute - No Passengers.
As the bus pulled up to L'Enfant Plaza at 7:44, I grabbed my lunch and coffee and made my way up the aisle and out the door, into the late spring heat of Washington DC. I grabbed the free daily Express at the top of the escalator. As I passed through the upper level of the station the Greenline let out 500 hurried commuters, all heading to the same location, the lower level Orangeline platform -- exactly where I was heading. I stood in line waiting to move down the escalator to the platform. Simulatneously I heard the Public Announcement, "We are currently experiencing a delay on the Orange and Blue lines toward Vienna and Fanconia-Springfield" and I noticed the entire platform filled with anxious commuters looking into and empty Orangeline train. The lighted destination board read "No Passengers."
The situation became interesting very quickly as the platform reached capacity, but the escalators continued to usher people into a motionless crowd. Where do you go? You can't walk up -- the entire escalator is pack and commuters continue to make their way toward the lower platform. All of a sudden I was trapped on a moving escalator being forced into the motionless crowd. I dodged a couple of folks and moved my way down toward the end of the platform, just hoping to board the train. 10 minutes later, we were on our stop-n-go way towards Vienna, and my final destination, Ballston.
It was interesting to see how people dealt with the situation as they were literally forced into a group of people that couldn't move. Those coming down the escalator didn't realize that the group was immoveable, that the platform had reached capacity. A fun morning.
If you get a chance, check out blogger's redesign at www.blogger.com. Very nice indeed.
posted by Kellie # 11:05 AM
