Changing At Jamaica….

One of these days, just one of these days, the Fail Road will get it right…

Every night, when I change trains at Jamaica, there’s a fiasco. I get off the 5:04 from Penn (to Hempstead) to get on my train to WH. The 5:04 arrives on track 8…the WH train is on Track 7. There’s also a transfer to Port Jefferson on track 6. The WH train on track 7 can be used as a bridge to track 6. Sounds simple enough right? If you have to take the PJ train, just walk across the platform…simple…wrong.

Instead, what happens every night is just short of a stampede. The PJ train arrives on track 6…the WH on track 7, the Hempstead on track 8. So, if you need to go track 6 just walk through the train on track 7….But no, instead, the sheeple get off the train, WALK UP OR DOWN THE PLATFORM, then find a door THEN WALK THROUGH THE TRAIN. Wouldn’t it just be easier to just walk DIRECTLY across the goddamn platform? Of course not. Not only is the Fail Road run by assholes, but 90% of its riders are assholes as well. Why do things right when you can do them ass-backward?

On top of all that, there are sheeple waiting to get on the Hempstead train who crowd the fucking doors like they’re giving away food at a refugee camp in Africa. And, there’s the usual drunks milling around the bar cart and more people running THROUGH the WH train on track 7 to transfer to the Hempstead train on track 8. Some nights it resembles a cluster fuck of humanity.

It gets better. With all of this going on, there are still trains that have to leave. The train on track 7 has it’s doors opened on both sides. Keep in mind there are people running all over the place. More than likely you’ll hear one of the “voices of Jamaica” proclaim “last call for the train to WH”…and the sheeple start scrambling. Yet, the conductor only pokes his head out the window. The voice starts again…”last call….”…more scrambling, sometimes there are people yelling “HOLD THE DOORS OPEN!”….but the doors never closed. On top of all this, there’s always some idiot who stops dead on the platform, IN FRONT OF THE FUCKING DOORS WITH A SUITCASE staring at the overhead signs asking people IS THIS THE PAWT JEFFUHSON TRAIN? No it’s not you dumb bitch, is that track 6, can’t you hear the fucking announcements? Get out of my way, I have a train to get on….

My question is: do the idiots making the announcements know what the hell is going on down on the platforms? They can see what’s going on from their room on the platform where they hide (I mean work). How much longer does this have to go on? I keep saying it’s the “little things” the Fail Road should concentrate on. This is one of them.

The solution? Don’t give the last call announcement until the train is ready to leave. The train doesn’t leave for up to three minutes sometimes after the “last call” announcement is made. And, make it only once, about a minute before the train leaves. It would make things much easier and ease the pandemonium at the platform.

Of course, the solution is too simple. If you ask the Fail Road nitwits about this, first they’ll say, “we’ll look into it”…then they’ll do nothing…then they’ll “investigate”…then they’ll hire a consultant (with a huge fee) who’ll tell them almost exactly what I proposed (with a lot more fancy words)…and then they’ll say they will change things at Jamaica…but instead go back to their old ways.

Why change things, you’ve already got us by the balls….

“The First Two Cars Do Not Platform At…”

Thanks again, fellow idiots (I mean commuters) for making me late again tonight. Especially you cretins on my train to WH tonight going home. The train was supposed to arrive at 5:55. Instead, we arrived at 6:02. Only 7 minutes late you say? No big deal, right? At least you got home…

The reason we were late was because nobody listens to the goddamn announcements. There are short platforms on my branch. The first two cars do NOT PLATFORM going East. The LAST TWO cars do not platform going West. On the way home, the conductor makes periodic announcements that the FIRST TWO CARS do not platform at Westwood, Malverne, Lakeview and Hempstead Gardens stations. The really good conductors even give you WHICH CAR NUMBERS will NOT platform at the above stations. After Westwood (where the first two cars do not platform) there’s even an announcement (most times) where the conductor says, “IF YOUR CAR DID NOT PLATFORM AT WESTWOOD IT WILL NOT PLATFORM AT MALVERNE, LAKEVIEW, OR HEMPSTEAD GARDENS, PLEASE WALK BACK).

You must be saying, “So what’s the problem?” The problem is that NOBODY PAYS ATTENTION. We were late again tonight because no less than 5 people had to run through two cars because they didn’t hear the announcements. One idiot was even standing there while the platform flies by. He’s still standing there (staring at the ballast on the trackbed) WAITING FOR THE DOORS TO OPEN…until someone says, “Hey, the doors don’t open here”….”OH SHIT!”, the cretin says…as he runs through the car (rolling case trailing behind) screaming, “HOLD THE DOORS!”….On the inside I’m screaming too “YOU FUCKING TOOL! TURN OFF YOUR FUCKING IPOD!”.

This happened at Westwood, Lakeview and Hempstead Gardens. The idiot at Hempstead Gardens couldn’t fit his goddamn rolling case between the seats. And, it was too heavy to lift, so he just pushed it through WHILE THE REST OF THE TRAIN WAITED…AND WAITED….AND WAITED…unfuckin‘-believable. While he’s sweating and grunting to get the case through he kept saying, “I didn’t hear any announcements…ha ha ha”….YOU ASSHOLE. ALL WE HEARD WERE ANNOUNCEMENTS.
The moral of this story, PAY ATTENTION. Pay attention to the train announcements, pay attention to your conductor. As much as you may hate the man/woman who takes your tickets, when they say something, LISTEN TO IT. It could make a lot of people happier and get home on time.

But no. Everyone has to be special. Everyone has to do what they want. Everyone else has to follow the rules but they are immune. Everyone doesn’t want to have their feelings hurt by being told what to do. Go fuck yourself. Shut up, turn off the iPod, pull your head out of your ass, and listen.
Not only would it make me happy, you will make a lot of other people smile too. They’ll be smiling because they’ll be home on time.