you're not supposed to run for trains. it's practically septa's slogan. they used to have big posters on all the trains saying just that: "don't run for trains" hanging on every train of my commuter rail line. the train i ride every morning.
so this morning, i'm walking to my train, tromping through the remains of last weekend's ice storm. my ipod's on and i'm listening to my monday morning podcast. at one point i look up and see a train at the station. i'm still a block away and without thinking i start to run.
which is unfortunate because if i had thought, i would have remembered that my train wasn't due for another five minutes. (septa trains are a lot of things, but they're not early). and if i had thought i would have remembered that even if i missed my train, there's another one 15 minutes later. and i would remember that even with that train i would probably still get to my office before most of the other lawyers, and that no one keeps track nor even cares when i come into the office. had i thought, no doubt, i would have also remembered the sheets of ice sitting on the sidewalk between me and the train station.
but i didn't think. the prospect of missing a train hit me in the gut like some kind of fight or flight instinct. so i just ran, down the sidewalk as fast as i could. then i slid and then smashed into the icy ground. my right hand came down first. it took the brunt of the impact, but i was still sprawled on the sidewalk as i watched the train leave the station. it was going outbound, away from philadelphia. it wasn't my train at all, but the earlier one that goes in the other direction.
so i got up, and slid the rest of the way to the train station. my hand was smeared with blood. it hurt, but not horribly so. and despite how it looked, it seemed to work okay. my train came right on time, a good three to four minutes after i arrived at the station.
when i got to my office and finally washed off my hand, i realized that the cuts were quite small and it wasn't really bleeding. but it ached a little. i managed to push it out of my head and went to work.
my job involves a good bit of writing, which means a lot of typing. as the day progressed my right hand hurt more and more. and then, around 4ish, it was hard to get it to work at all. if could force myself to type, but it really was painful.
so then i went home and typed a long blog account of the whole mess. what the hell is wrong with me?
