Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My!
Rewind. Saturday night. Before the old man licked my arm. As I put on my makeup before leaving the house for the evening, I have no way of knowing that the rest night will turn out to be like a scene from Go or The Warriors. It all starts innocently enough. So, I’m hanging out at the H&M near Broadway & Prince when I receive the call. It’s “Big D Girl”. She and “Big T Boy” have just finished watching the movie “The Last King of Scotland” at the Sunshine Theater, and she wants to know if I’m still joining them for the party at Jay’s. Of course! I tell her that I’m on my way, and I’ll meet them on 2nd Ave near the train. Bro and Maria will be coming along as well. Easy enough, right?
It’s 9:30pm. And, as planned, Big D Girl, Big T Boy, Bro, Maria and I board the F train at 2nd Avenue and head out to Brooklyn for the party. So far, so good. But, then, we’re on the train for about 5 or 6 stops when we realize that we’re heading in the wrong direction. (SIDENOTE: If you’re not from New York City, you might not know this, but the subway (the MTA) turns into, shall we say, [insert air quotes] an “adventure” on the weekends. Trains run on different lines, they don’t show up, people get beat up … You name it, it happens. So, on this particular evening, the F train is running on the C train tracks. Got it? Okay.) So, after riding the F train (now the C train) 6 stops in the wrong direction, we decide to get off. But, I can’t get back on the train again right away. I’m hungry. So, we walk a tiny bit in a neighborhood that could appropriately be called, “The Ghetto”, and duck into a sandwich shop to get food. After that, we’re on our way again. We pay another fare, board the train again, and take it 7 stops in the direction from which we just came. (Minutes passed: 60. Train stops: 13.)
We eventually get off of the subway again, walk a bit, and board another subway to ride 4 stops south until we get off at Jay’s stop. But, we can’t go directly to Jay’s house because there’s a Dunkin Donuts in the way. Bro wants coffee. The rest of us want donuts. (SIDENOTE: I think this is right about the time that Big T Boy starts to lose it and he jokes: “What the hell is this? A scavenger hunt!?!?! Let’s just get there!!”)
So “get there” we do. Almost 2 hours after we initially left Manhattan, we arrive at Jay’s party in Brooklyn. Sheesh! The trip there was like a lions-and-tigers-and-bears-oh-my kind of experience. Do you have any stories to share about getting lost? Did you take the wrong subway, miss a turn on a highway, or drive a bit further down a road than you were supposed to? Use the comment section above to tell us about it.
October 11th, 2006 at 3:17 am
heya big fbc girl, hows you? sorrry for not commenting recently………hehe like you give a hoot :P
anyhow, the subway system resembles a bit like the japanese one. i got lost a few times myself here. especially at shinjyuku which is a big shopping and office district in tokyo. the station is sooo damn big it took me at least 15 minutes to get out hehe
also for longer distances you have to take like 5 different subways because they are all different lines n shite, very hard for a foreigner like me hah.
also everything is in japanese so that makes it even harder.
October 11th, 2006 at 5:28 am
Needed to get a train from Birmingham to Heathrow to meet my parents when they flew up for my graduation. I had one change at Reading, but some moron had decided to end his pathetic life by jumping in the tracks (and pissing everyone off) so all trains to London from Reading were cancelled. Two hours later and a weird-ass detour I can’t even remember, I finally get to Paddington but I can’t get to Heathrow terminal 4 since the underground is closed for repairs. Long tiring sweaty irritating story!
Oh, and I got lost during the one and only time I tried the subway in NYC. Sigh…
October 11th, 2006 at 10:37 am
papigiulio: Japan. I’ve traveled throughout the US, Europe, and the UK, but I’ve never been anywhere in Asia, Africa, or Latin America. Need more money. Need more vacation time. :)
Darwin: Ewwww! Someone threw themselves in front of the train? :( And, by the way, you sooo need to take a trip to NYC again. The subways aren’t pretty easy to navigate once you get the hang of it. :)
October 11th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
How’s this for a story:
I’m one of those girls who thinks that whatever direction I happen to be facing must be North. I do not have an internal compass so if I don’t have specific instructions on how to get somewhere and I haven’t been there before, then “lost” is inevitably part of the journey.
October 11th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
Blogger Mom 101 announces pregnancy
It seems like the last several months have been pretty busy for blogger Mom-101 . The lifelong (and consummate)
October 12th, 2006 at 10:16 am
I, too, have absolutely NO sense of direction. I can read maps just fine, but I don’t have an internal compass or anything like that.