“Excuse me, what time is it?” the gentleman asked me as we stood at the light rail stop waiting for the train to arrive. I glanced down at my wrist. Damn. Battery’s dead. I looked at him for a moment my eyes apologizing for the delay in responding. This damn watch. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone and quickly squeezed the power button to turn it on. The screen flashed up and I read the time quickly out loud, “It’s 10 ’til 1, the train should be here in 5 minutes.” The trains were supposed to arrive every 10 minutes, starting on the hour, but they were always 5 minutes late. Like clockwork.
“Thank you,” the gentleman responded, “It’s not normal, right?”
“Pardon me?” I asked. I didn’t know what he was talking about. What is not normal? What is normal? Why is this guy, dressed in such nice clothes, waiting at a light rail station for a train in this part of town, and why is he talking to me? All these thoughts rattled through my mind as the gentleman cleared his throat.
“These damn trains. It’s not normal for an entire train route to run 5 minutes late to every stop, consistently like this!” He exclaimed energetically. “It’s almost like they actually do it on purpose.”
“Huh. That’s an interesting point,” I pondered his statement for a moment. “I never really took notice. Around here, it is normal. It’s so normal, that it’s just come to be expected. I’m not sure why they haven’t just changed the schedules.”
The gentleman looked at me for a moment, and conceded that he wasn’t from around here. When he was in Europe, all the trains arrived exactly when they were scheduled to arrive. In New York they don’t mess with people like this. Schedules are there to allow people to plan their day. How can a person expect to be to an interview on time if the train is always coming late? He seemed like he might be nervous about an upcoming job interview. Should I ask him about it, or did I want to let this one be?
“Are *you* going to a job interview?”
“Well gee, you think maybe? Who else would I be talking about!?” He started to annoy me, but then immediately changed his tone, “I’m sorry man, yea, I’m just really fucking nervous about this interview. I haven’t had a job in 16 months and this could be a really good opportunity to start a REAL career. Not just some fucking job flipping burgers or waiting tables. If I do this right, I could get in on the ground level of something that will make me rich beyond my dreams.”
It sounded to me like he was about to get suckered into a pyramid scheme or some shit. I don’t know, but I didn’t want any part of his future troubles. “Okay man, well, I hope that works out for you. Piece of advice. If they make you pay for anything before you start, it’s probably worth checking out before you sign any agreements.”
“No man, it’s not anything like that. It’s a startup. They just need a programmer to write some of the code, and I’ve been taking these online courses from Stanford, so I’m hoping that I can use that to get in the door. Once I’m in, I’ll devote my every waking minute to learning all I need to know about programming and we’re going to make millions. I’m not sure why I’m so nervous. I guess it’s just the formality of it all. I’m a shoe in. They practically already hired me, just said I needed to come in and see the big boss for the formal interview.”
So it sounds less like this guy is getting scammed than I thought. I wonder what kind of startup. Then the train rolls into the station, and comes to a stop at the appointed place, 5 minutes late, just like clockwork. There is a small hiss as the doors open, and people start to file out of the train cars. As they are disembarking, people line up on either side of the doors to start piling in. There’s a general disorder and chaos to the boarding of the light rail during the peak times. I step onto the train, and look around. The seats are all filled, and people are standing all over the place. It’s typical of the morning commute. I step up into the aisle, and reach up for the metal bar that so many people are hanging on to. The gentleman that was talking to me in the station steps up and grabs onto the rail on the opposite side of the aisle and smiles in my direction.
“Sure is crowded. That’s the same everywhere I’ve been.”