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2005-02-08 - 10:32 a.m.

Stories from the train �

-The Orange Line Halsted stop has seven turnstiles (I think! I�m not good with numbers...). Two are normal (use farecard; walk through turnstile bar), one is a handicap entrance (large swinging door instead of turnstile), and four are exit only. I�m not sure why the CTA thought this was a good idea as most of the customers using this line come to it via bus (#8 Halsted, #62 Archer, or #44 Wallace/Racine) and so large groups are all trying to get through at the same time � but that�s the way it is now.
So I got off the bus, walked in, and saw that there were 3 people in each line for the regular turnstiles, and one person already walking through the handicap door. A CTA employee (a large, older black man) was standing over it making sure that only one person walked through at a time, and he was also steadying the door as it swung shut from the person in front of me. I waited for him to nod to let me know that it was time to touch my farecard and then a small, middle-aged Asian woman ran in front of me, put in farecard in the slot, and walked through without a glance at me! The CTA employee looked at me (somewhat worried, I think, that I would make a scene), and when I made a confused face and shrugged, he started laughing like it was the funniest thing ever. �You got burned!� Yup. This whole waiting until it�s officially my turn to go in has just got to stop. (And I did, just barely, make it on the train � so I�m willing to laugh!)

-Yesterday afternoon�s commute shall hereafter be known as �The Day of the Chocolate.�
I walked out of my building downtown into the rainy, foggy, dark afternoon, and smelled just barely burnt chocolate. Like fondue or barely burnt chocolate chip cookies. Now, I�m not a chocoholic and I don�t eat a lot of sweet food (Unless I have PMS. Then all bets are off.), but this was an amazing smell and made me want to track down its source. But, I walked to the train station instead.
On the train, I found a seat facing backwards. A woman (black, average size and weight, teased and short hair) was seated in the forward facing seats near the door between cars. At the Adams/Wabash stop, an older (maybe late 50s?) white man got on and stood leaning against the wall with the call button and blue light � maybe 2 feet from the woman. He started going through a blue Dominicks bag (and not quietly, either), pulled out the biggest chocolate bar I�ve ever seen, and started breaking off pieces and eating them. It wasn�t particularly interesting. Until I looked at the woman again and saw her face � she was absolutely horrified! She watched every piece go from his hand to his mouth with an shocked-and-appalled look, until he was finished and put what was left of the massive chocolate bar back into his briefcase. I don�t know why. Maybe she�s diabetic or on the Atkins diet or just feels very strongly about the CTA�s never-enforced no-eating-on-trains policy...

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