Find The Boots

Why do people go crazy when they travel? A few months ago I was going to a meeting in San Francisco. I was on the train to the rental car after 9 hours of travel, standing in a crowd, with a suitcase and a backpack, fairly oblivious to what was going on around me.

There was a little old lady about three rows of people behind me and was evidently very concerned that she wouldn't be able to get off the train first. As the train is stopping I hear a commotion and, she's pushing her way past two passengers.

Then she JUMPS OVER MY SUITCASE to get to the then opening door. Not expecting an arial attack and slightly off balance from the backpack hanging on my shoulder, I couldn't get out of her way so she knocked me into the door as it was opening. This was enough to drag my left elbow into the space between the door and the car. There's not much space there, so the door gave me a good yank and then closed while I extracted my numbing limb.

I'm a pretty big guy, so she had to hit me pretty hard to knock me off balance. This wasn't a gentle nudge, it was a body check that would get you a roughing penalty for leaving your feet in the old NHL. She just kept going and didn't even offer an apology.

I got to spend the rest of the week with a sore arm and shoulder, and she got to be first in the rental car line. One would think that people leave their common sense, decency, and manners at home when they travel.