Mind the gap!

Satori, injury, public transportation — Stephen on 15 February 2008 @ 12:22 PM — 1 comment

Oh brother! It was about 7:30pm last night, and I was on my way to visit a friend of mine on the Metrobus. I’m not sure if 7:30pm is normally rush hour, or whether everyone was on their way to some Valentine’s Day tryst, but the buses were crazy full of people (or is that full of crazy people?).  I had the particular misfortune to have to shove myself just inside the doors.  At each stop, the crowd would push their way out, I would step to the platform, then shove myself back in before the doors closed a microsecond later. At Insurgentes (which is a curved station), the crowd was even more aggressive than at the other stations, and literally shoved (and I mean SHOVED) to get out.  As I was being hustled out by the motion of the mob, I was pushed in such a way that I fell into the gap between the bus and the platform (which was a good foot and a half wide).  The height of this platform is roughly 5 ft off the ground (as is the bus floor) and I landed on my elbows between the two. The crowed couldn’t have cared less, as they continued to plow over me. There was one nice soul on the platform waiting to board who helped me up out of the hole. I am lucky that I had time to scramble out before the bus took off, or I could have been cut in two.

All of this should serve as a warning to anyone riding the Metrobus when it is crowded. Mind the gap! Don’t ride the bus when it is crowded! Punch an old lady in the face if you have to!