Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Murphy's Law and the Christmas Party

The plan was simple enough. Leave the office a little early and go to an uptown Christmas party.

A last minute work request delayed my departure. As I was getting ready to leave, the restroom was closed for cleaning resulting in another ten minutes of delay.

When I finally leave, I'm late, and it's pouring rain. But wait, there's more.

The subway platform is mobbed. An incident of some sort has delayed service. When a train finally arrives, the mob tries to squeeze into it. The train cannot accommodate everyone. I have to wait for the third train in the sequence before there's enough room to board.

A couple of stops later, two young men board the car that I'm riding and squeeze in close to where I'm standing. The first guy has a bike which takes up a lot of space. Passengers have trouble getting around the bike as they board and exit the car. The bike is also wet from being out in the rain. At one point, it rolls back and a tired leaves dirt on some guy's clothes. The guy is not pleased.

The other guy who got on at the same stop as bike man is a panhandler. His pitch starts out: "Good evening folks. Sorry for the interruption. This won't take too long." That was too good to be true. He proceeds to make his pitch. "Can anybody please help me out? Anything will help. If you can't, I understand. God bless you, and have a good night." 

Then he proceeds to repeat those same statements over and over again. The car is so crowded that he can't walk around to get contributions, so he stands right there in front of me droning on and on. It was maddening.

Finally, I reach my stop. As I walk the length of the platform to reach the steps up to the street, a hyper-neat looking guy walking in front of me opens his umbrella and carries it over his head. Note to guy: it doesn't rain underground.

I slopped through several blocks of heavy rain before I arrive at the party. My clothes are wet. My socks are wet. Merry Christmas, Mr. Murphy. You win.



Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South 
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