Recent Metro adventures

Tonight on my way home from work, I saw the station operator run toward the platform as I was leaving the turnstiles. I figure he was chasing someone who had not paid a fare. Then, as I was working my way up the nearly 400-foot escalator, six of Montgomery County's finest barrelled into the station. That's when I started thinking that it might be more than a fare jumper. As it turned out, an escaped prisoner/fugitive had bolted from the police and made a beeline for the Metro. Turns out the guy actually made it onto a train, thus eluding his pursuers. Can't wait to see the reports.

On a slightly more serious note, seeing six policepersons hauling ass into a Metro station during the current state of affairs was really jarring. Considering that on a prior trip home our train operator spotted an unattended bag on the Van Ness-UDC platform, I'm watching things Metro-wise quite carefully.

When I was home in the Midwest a few weekends ago, I was discussing current events with a college student friend of the family. When the subject turned to terrorism, more specifically the recent bombings in London, he became dismissive, mentioning something under his breath about "Michael Moore liberal bullshit" in response to something I said about it being scary to get around Washington. That's when I lost it. I told him rather loudly and quite definitively (in the middle of a celebratory dinner for my mother's retirement, unfortunately) that I went to work every morning wondering whether I would actually make it out of the subway system alive or dead. As I ranted, I think I said something about him knowing nothing while being safely ensconced in his dorm room. It was unpleasant. Of course, not knowing if tomorrow is the day the backpack bombers will go for the DC Metro is also unpleasant. Telecommuting becomes more appealing by the day.