If any of the following six things had played out differently, I would’ve made the 8:43 instead of attemping to kill 33 minutes in “downtown” Hawthorne on a freezing morning.
In chronological order…
* Traffic at Bradhurst. A moment of indecision…Is the minivan turning left onto Broad lettting me go first? I can’t see through the briny sheen on their windshield. Delay: 40 seconds.
* More traffic around Hawthorne elementary school. Parents parking and walking. A Christmas holiday party of some sort? Delay: 30 seconds.
* General concern over slippery roads after the weekend’s blizzard, though it wasn’t quite a blizzard in Mount Pleasant. Black ice? Slippery patches? You just don’t know. Delay: 45 seconds.
* The snow drifts in between parked cars in the spaces connecting the train station parking lot to the bike rack. Indecision as I figured out my best route–the damn 8:43 was already in the station–before stepping into a massive pile. Delay: 20 seconds. Feet still cold.
* People exiting the northbound train at Hawthorne clogging up the staircase as I tried to sprint up it. Note to staircase descenders: That guy sprinting up the stairs with grave concern on his face is probably trying to get on that train sitting on the platform. Move the f*** out of his way. Delay: 15 seconds.
* The 8:43 leaving at 8:43:10. C’mon!
And so I was stuck for the next 33 minutes.
Of course, I could’ve left my house 30 seconds sooner.