Train Wreck

This might be a good time to talk about some of the personalities on this trip. 

Well, at least one! Joe!

Joe brings a lot of colorful attributes to our trip but two most notably. His impeccable taste for quality foods, and his remarkable lack of attention. 

Both of which come into play for this story.

Joe also has a habit of walking quickly and often in front of everyone else even though he doesn’t always know he is going. As we were going through the TSA checkpoint in Little Rock I was telling Larry how we need to keep an eye on him because he doesn’t always pay attention. At that time Joe walked up to the agent who requested his passport. It had been announced several times as we were in line as well as signs to have it out and ready, yet Joe’s passport was in his bag. 

For most of the 2 1/2 hr wait at the train station today we sat in the same spot, charging our phones and making sure we had our next travel arrangements in order. Trains here leave promptly on time and we were notified that the doors close 2 minutes before departure. 

The original plan for the day was to purchase one ticket on a high speed train from Paris directly to Zurich where we planned to spend the night. After the non-refundable purchase we received an email confirmation with a link to print the tickets. It was then that we discovered that this was actually three trains, on three different train lines and the first transfer was only 8 minutes, and 6 before the doors closed.

We have been increasingly worried about this connection and fortunately it was at the beginning of the trip when we were still at our best but we have all be anxious about it.

After a couple hours sitting at the station Joe decided to check out some of the small sandwich kiosks to buy a snack for the train ride. I jumped up volunteering to go with Joe knowing that he could easily get distracted and not make it back in time.

His nose was in prime condition and took us from shop to shop admiring all the delightful looking sandwiches. pastries and sweets.

It was then that we discovered that there was a whole mall in the station full of all sorts of shops and goodies and Joe wanted to look at every one. I warned Joe that our time was short and we needed to head back to the group. Joe agreed but said he had to take a detour to the bathroom. I left him to his duty and I returned where the others were nervously waiting. It was time to go! 

John, Larry, Bryan and myself went on to the train which was now boarding. Alan stayed behind because Joe left his luggage with him and also left his phone plugged in to charge. 

As we climbed on board, Alan frantically called stating that Joe still hasn’t returned. It was now 5 minutes till the doors closed and Joe was no where in sight. 

Not only was Alan at the farthest end of the station, the train was at the opposite end and at the very last platform farthest from where we were sitting. He asked for help with the bags or he would also miss the train. He still hasn’t seen Joe and Joe didn’t even have his phone with him in case he was left behind. 

I jumped back off and ran through the station. We were now down to 3 minutes. 

By the time I got back to Alan, Joe had just appeared and was fast on his heels. Alan’s face was red from a rush of high blood pressure and Joe was clutching his chest. We now had two minutes to get back across the station. We all ran like OJ Simpson, knocking old women out of the way and running over the kids. We arrived at the train as the doors were preparing to close.

Our seats were in car 7, the very last car at the far end of the platform. We ran as fast as we could, car 2, car 3, car 4, the bells chimed that they were closing. We weren’t alone. Other last minute idiots jumped on where they were. Door 5 had a total logjam and we wouldn’t fit. We ran on to car 6 and all three jumped in just as the door slammed shut, almost catching Joe’s foot.  He was beet red by this time and felt faint. We were all sweating. We then had to climb more stairs to the second floor which had a crossover to reach car 7. 

The others were panicked being certain we had missed the train and the reality of how close we cut it was quite alarming. After we found our seats and caught our breath we all grilled Joe who admitted that he had to go to the bathroom the whole time we were at the station but didn’t bother to go. I knew better than to leave him alone. Joe has now been upgraded from our “watch list” to the “special needs” list. 

Even though this would be a good end to this entry, I conclude with Joe thinking he lost his passport. He’s been feeling around on the floor around my feet. And to make things even more disappointing, he never even got a sandwich for the train ride. 

(The picture shows the many tracks at this train station. We were seated near the entrance by the first track, our train departed at the very last one)