Polar Bear Express

      Have you ever joined a polar bear club? Have you ever felt the urge to sprint towards the ocean in December and immerse yourself into ice-cold water? Neither have I, nor did the majority of commuters on the metro north platforms and train cars this morning. We did however endure frigid temperatures for a longer period of time than most of the crazy, overweight Speedo wearing freaks do during their annual polar bear plunge. The only difference is that we buy a ticket to freeze our asses off, they do it for free?

     The dashboard temp read one degree (without wind-chill) this morning as most shoved off for work. Arriving at the station you could see a cloud of frozen breath over a mass of pissed off commuters packed 4 or 5 deep on the train platform. The rest of us were crammed into the tiny station house staring up at the newly installed digital disappointment board that listed train delay after train delay. With each delayed train came a new wave of anger in the form of Monday morning commuters.

     Eventually the refrigerated cattle cars arrived and people started piling on. When I reached the head of the pack, a train door stopped right in front of me, I was excited to get on and thaw out. The doors never opened. About 1/3rd of the trains were too crowded and continued on their way. Eventually most people made it onto a train but the fun didn't stop there! Many of these run down disco era sardine cans had no heat. People sat or were packed into the isles and stood for 76 minutes into the city. I would not be surprised if a small percentage of riders got frostbite this morning.

     Last week we received a nice note on our seats apologizing for the delays due to storms and downed power lines. This week..... nothing. Not even an email or note or announcement explaining something that would make us feel better about the torture most endured this morning. That's like locking your child outside with no coat on for an hour and a half, letting him or her inside and pretending as if nothing happened. I'd like to thank the Metro North for going above and beyond in outdoing themselves as far as faulty equipment, poor communication and overall commuter harassment goes. European high-speed rails make the metro north look like Thomas the tank engine. Keep an eye out for my next post when I will be explaining the wonderful world of walking pneumonia!