I Hate Public Transportation
So I didn't have physics homework due today since it was due Wednesday this week instead. In that case, you'd think I'd have an absolutely fabulous Friday, but no, if physics doesn't ruin it then something else must.
I had to teach again today, this time at a different high school. Firstly, getting there was already a pain. I got to the bus stop at 9:40, hoping to catch the 9:45 bus to the station which would allow me to get to the school around 10:15. This would give me a half-hour safety buffer since my workshop was supposed to begin at 10:46. Or at least that was the plan.
So yes, I get to the bus stop at 9:40, give or take a minute or two. I wait. The time comes, passes. Maybe it's late. Maybe I missed it. But I have time. I don't have a problem waiting for the next one.
Ten o'clock comes, passes. I'm standing there freezing in the 30 degree weather. Maybe it's late. I wait and wait. But there's no way I could have missed this one. I look around, and a young woman approaches me. She asks me if I'm waiting for the #8, and I reply yes, but tell her that it hasn't come. She concurs and explains how she's been waiting for that bus for the past half-hour! Alarmed, we approach a transit worker. He refuses to listen to the woman, telling her that she had not been waiting for the past half-hour, and that he was aware the bus was 20 minutes late.
Twenty minutes! Two buses should have came in that time! I was infuriated, but mostly worried. I looked at my watch. It was 10:15. If the bus didn't come in the next four minutes, I was taking a taxi to the school. Later I realized I should have taken it anyway.
It finally came in the next minute and I hopped on board. I got to the station, but then I had to walk to the school. Much to my dismay, the directions weren't clear and I reached an intersection where the road I was on traveling along curved right. I was supposed to turn left on a specific street, but as I saw no sign or indication, I followed the street to be safe. When I finally made sense of the directions, I realized that I should have turned left at that intersection, meaning I was going the complete opposite direction. I turned around and started running the other way.
By the time I got to the school I was late. I approached the front desk to sign-in, but one of my "superiors" was standing there and interrupted, asking if I was an educator. I replied yes, and she looked at her watch and said, "Oh, class started six or seven minutes ago." It wasn't in a malicious tone, but we both knew it was a problem. I tried to explain as she helped me find the classroom, but she clearly wasn't interested. I was so embarrassed, especially since I was late the last time I saw her too.
It didn't make me feel any better to teach the class. The kids I dealt with at the last school I taught at were absolutely wonderful. They participated and listened, and even those that weren't listening were still quiet. In other words, they showed us respect. But this school was the complete opposite. The kids completely ignored us, talked over us, and simply wouldn't settle down. My partner kept repeating how we were taking time out of our schedules to be there, how we were there because we wanted to help them, but they didn't care at all. And in the end, being the empathetic person I am, I was deeply depressed.
But that wasn't even the end of it. I received permission to take a taxi back since the workshop ended at 11:40 and I had class at 12. But I never did get that taxi. We tried hailing one from the streets, but all of them refused to take us. This angered me as only one of the five we saw actually had a passenger inside. We tried calling a company to send one, but they said that they didn't cover the area we were in. We gave up when it was past 12. I was late to class, and I resigned to take the bus back to campus.
I got back at 12:35, so I ended up skipping class completely. It's not such an important class in terms of grades and such, but I felt bad about missing it and I would have liked to participate in the discussion that went on today.
So I went straight to writing class and then afterward I ate lunch with Izzy, which was perhaps the one good thing that happened to me today. Then I took a nap to relieve my stress before waking up to have dinner with Caca.
Ugh, but I still can't get over what happened today. The bottom line: Boston public transportation sucks, and taxis do too.
Seriously, in New York, it's illegal to not pick up a person if you have an empty cab. But I know, I know; I'm not in New York now, am I?
I had to teach again today, this time at a different high school. Firstly, getting there was already a pain. I got to the bus stop at 9:40, hoping to catch the 9:45 bus to the station which would allow me to get to the school around 10:15. This would give me a half-hour safety buffer since my workshop was supposed to begin at 10:46. Or at least that was the plan.
So yes, I get to the bus stop at 9:40, give or take a minute or two. I wait. The time comes, passes. Maybe it's late. Maybe I missed it. But I have time. I don't have a problem waiting for the next one.
Ten o'clock comes, passes. I'm standing there freezing in the 30 degree weather. Maybe it's late. I wait and wait. But there's no way I could have missed this one. I look around, and a young woman approaches me. She asks me if I'm waiting for the #8, and I reply yes, but tell her that it hasn't come. She concurs and explains how she's been waiting for that bus for the past half-hour! Alarmed, we approach a transit worker. He refuses to listen to the woman, telling her that she had not been waiting for the past half-hour, and that he was aware the bus was 20 minutes late.
Twenty minutes! Two buses should have came in that time! I was infuriated, but mostly worried. I looked at my watch. It was 10:15. If the bus didn't come in the next four minutes, I was taking a taxi to the school. Later I realized I should have taken it anyway.
It finally came in the next minute and I hopped on board. I got to the station, but then I had to walk to the school. Much to my dismay, the directions weren't clear and I reached an intersection where the road I was on traveling along curved right. I was supposed to turn left on a specific street, but as I saw no sign or indication, I followed the street to be safe. When I finally made sense of the directions, I realized that I should have turned left at that intersection, meaning I was going the complete opposite direction. I turned around and started running the other way.
By the time I got to the school I was late. I approached the front desk to sign-in, but one of my "superiors" was standing there and interrupted, asking if I was an educator. I replied yes, and she looked at her watch and said, "Oh, class started six or seven minutes ago." It wasn't in a malicious tone, but we both knew it was a problem. I tried to explain as she helped me find the classroom, but she clearly wasn't interested. I was so embarrassed, especially since I was late the last time I saw her too.
It didn't make me feel any better to teach the class. The kids I dealt with at the last school I taught at were absolutely wonderful. They participated and listened, and even those that weren't listening were still quiet. In other words, they showed us respect. But this school was the complete opposite. The kids completely ignored us, talked over us, and simply wouldn't settle down. My partner kept repeating how we were taking time out of our schedules to be there, how we were there because we wanted to help them, but they didn't care at all. And in the end, being the empathetic person I am, I was deeply depressed.
But that wasn't even the end of it. I received permission to take a taxi back since the workshop ended at 11:40 and I had class at 12. But I never did get that taxi. We tried hailing one from the streets, but all of them refused to take us. This angered me as only one of the five we saw actually had a passenger inside. We tried calling a company to send one, but they said that they didn't cover the area we were in. We gave up when it was past 12. I was late to class, and I resigned to take the bus back to campus.
I got back at 12:35, so I ended up skipping class completely. It's not such an important class in terms of grades and such, but I felt bad about missing it and I would have liked to participate in the discussion that went on today.
So I went straight to writing class and then afterward I ate lunch with Izzy, which was perhaps the one good thing that happened to me today. Then I took a nap to relieve my stress before waking up to have dinner with Caca.
Ugh, but I still can't get over what happened today. The bottom line: Boston public transportation sucks, and taxis do too.
Seriously, in New York, it's illegal to not pick up a person if you have an empty cab. But I know, I know; I'm not in New York now, am I?
prism:
sunshine (daily rants)
1 comment:
God that school sounds horrendous. :-(
Post a Comment