so i figured it out...

remember when i said that wild horses couldn't drag me away from class? ...well apparently, wild horses can't. but one, giant, slow-moving metallic train can.

this is a story about last night and why i am mad... and sad... and spent much of the night bitterly gazing at the sky, as though it betrayed me in the worst way possible.

i missed class. and it had nothing to do with me.

it all started out so normally. got on my train at 3, we left at 3:11. i started to read, i was listening to some tunes on my ipod... reading a great book, fell a sleep (like i often do) because i'm constantly doing double-time in order to justify cake school, and compensate for how much time i spend in NYC. quite content to just enjoy my sleepy ride in to penn station. like i always do.

every once in a while, i'd peer out the window at the storm clouds off in the distance. they were majestic, ominous and growing darker. i dug around in my bag. "good," i thought, "i've got my little umbrella!" - i hate getting stuck in the rain in the city. it's such a long walk to and from the subway, the rain can soak me through before i get to the safety of my school.

i kept reading, wondering how much rain we were going to get. from the looks of it, it seemed we'd be getting our fair share, and then some.

not long after, the rain started to fall. i watched it, peacefully, as it hit the windows and in unison, started to slip and slide in a diagonal path across the window panes. hundreds of tiny little rain drops. the drops go bigger. the sky got darker. soon it was just sheeting across the window- like someone had turned a hose on and left it blasting. everything outside began to dance in the gusts of wind. and bend and sway to the pounding of what looked like giant, hail-sized raindrops.

"great," i though to myself, "hopefully it's not this bad in the city. i'm going to get drenched, even with my crappy little umbrella." (i got it for free with a beach bag last summer. it's little spring had broken almost immediately, and one of the little wire arms was bent, but typically it did the job. i don't really have much use for umbrellas. i'm typically the weirdo twirling around in the rain, letting it fall on my face...of course, i mean when i've got no where to go. umbrellas have their purpose. and i was particularly fond of this one for two reasons: it was impossibly tiny and i loved how large it got when you opened it from such a small beginning. AND i loved it's colorful, polka dotted pattern.)

but then there came the announcement:

"attention passengers. we will be stoping at hicksville and then going to westbury and stopping for an indeterminate length of time due to severe weather conditions up head and some weather-related signal problems."

UGH. now i was a bit annoyed. i didn't like a few things about that announcement. "indeterminate" meant we didn't know how long it could be...which sounded bad. and "signal problems" which can often delay a train for a while. 'a while' was something i didn't have, since i get to school exactly on time when things are running normally. a delay would mean i'd be running again, running and dodging people and puddles and obstacles.

so i figured, i'd call my chef, let her know my situation and advise her that i would likely be a little late to class. but i had no signal. every time i tried to call, i'd get "signal lost" on the screen. PERFECT! no phone, stuck on a train, in a storm. this was NOT looking good. i eventually texted my husband and asked him to call my chef (who didn't pick up, so he left a message) and one of my classmates, my current partner, just in case the chef didn't get my/his message.

the train moved up a the track slightly and i was hopeful. for about three seconds. and then there was another announcement:

"attention passengers. [didn't like the tone in his voice] we are going to be staying at westbury for at least an hour due to severe weather and signal problems up ahead. we will leave the doors open and if you want to arrange for a ride home, if you don't want to wait, feel free to make calls. there are pay phones on the platform."

WAIT, go home?! arrange a ride?! an HOUR??!!! no. this was NOT happening.

the very first though that dashed through my mind was "this is such an important class!! we have a practical. it's a chef ron class. CHEF RON and the flowers. we were finishing the flowers." this was monumentally unfair. and i was ... well... i was angry.

as if on cue, by the way, the sky just opened up. lightening began racing across the sky in every direction, in yellow, orange and purply white branches. thunder clapped and boomed so loudly the train windows rattled. a group of high-schoolers sitting nearby screamed bloody murder.

"great."

and the we waited. and waited. and waited.

every minute that ticked by left me feeling more desperate to get to school, and yet dimmed the hopes of that becoming a reality.

about an hour and ten minutes later however, the conductor came back on the speaker and said that we were awaiting the green light and we would be advancing west. YAY! okay, so i'd be late, but at least i could get to school. i looked at my watch and did some quick math. if i got there in 45 minutes and then caught the Q, i could get there by 6:25ish. sure, i'd be late, but i'd get there! i sat back in my seat and waited happily with my book, watching the rain and lightening.

not long after that, we were off. off like a herd of...turtles. or snails. seriously...i COULD have walked the track faster. but whatever, we were moving!!

we, an HOUR later, got to jamaica and then stopped right before the platform. again, came another announcement:

"attention passengers. this train will terminate at jamaica. we are informed that there is NO westbound service on at line on the LIRR at this time between jamaica and penn station. you can- [but everything sort of went muffled here]"

terminated? NO service? i looked at my watch - 7 pm. even if i could walk outside to wherever we were, and catch a cab...i wasn't sure if cabs went from jamaica to soho. and if they did, i had 5 bucks on me - i hadn't gone to the bank recently. my debit card was sitting on my desk, at home! [because i forgot it...again].

school was impossible?? school was impossible. and i was going to miss out on my class with chef ron. of all the classes to miss, it's the one that he said "DON'T miss monday! take your vitamins!" [i always take my vitamins!] ...

i grabbed my backpack and stood near the door. 'just let me OFF this thing!' i thought, angrily.

a conductor walked by and i said, "there's NOTHING to penn? to the city?" all he said was "nope" as he pushed by me

...thanks!

so i had only one choice: get back on a SUPER crowded train headed back east...and stand amidst 500 people and slowly inch our way back home. and so i did, begrudgingly. and some guy coughed on me the whole way home. i got home at 8. 8pm. which means i was on the train for about 5 hours. and i went no where. nowhere but disappointed.

i missed out on a class with chef ron, which, as you can imagine, kills me. since i've yammered on about him in like 75% of my blog posts. i missed all the magic. and my practical. and on a class i've waited over a year to take. i've literally waited YEARS to take flowers with RBI and on the big day, i can't go.

it occurs to me that i could've probably walked there faster. and thoughts of "ugh, why do i live so far away?" cross my mind.

yes, there are worse things to happen in life. but i'm sad and utterly disappointed. and me and the weather? we are so not friends right now.

no pictures to post this time.

xo

m