It's Not Just a Train, It's an Adventure

Preface: We have had this post staged several times only to have WMATA preempt itself with meltdowns like this. Here, at long last, is a positive story.

We're hardly sentimentalists when it comes to Metro. Yes, we point out a lot of negatives about it, but as we've said before, we're very glad to have even a flawed Metro around. We just wish it worked better, was managed better, had nicer employees and that people wouldn't clip their finger nails, dip or do these other things on it.
It's easy to get caught up in WMATA's problems--they have many--but it's nice to be jostled, if only for a moment, out of our admittedly cynical views and be reminded that for some, riding the Metro is an unusual adventure worth telling their grand kids about. We came across this poignant ode to Metro via the personal blog of Margaret Ann who was in DC visiting from Florida. This is an entry from May 21:

Dad rides the subway!
We're crossing items off the "bucket list" here in D.C. - At 69 years old, this small town southern man (as Alan Jackson so fondly sings of) has more than a few things he still hasn't experienced in his lifetime. Riding the subway was one of them. This week, he got to ride the D.C. metro rail not once, but three times! Although I wouldn't go so far as to see he's an "old pro" at it, at least he's earned the right to tell tales about it to his grandsons. For him, that's worth more than the cost of the ticket!

We just hope he kept to the right on the escalators.

We'll be back on Metro's case shortly.

Other news:
Study calls for easier to read bus schedules (DC Examiner)
What do you think of the new tiles look? (GGW)
America's greatest transit manager will be on WAMU today
More reports of harassment on Metro (Holla Back DC)

Photo: ccperkdog