Metro gets its kicks from just driving me down

I took the subway home from work Friday,and well, it was not too cool.

I rode an elevator down to the mezzanine to show to the station manager my para-transit pass, which allows free trips.

He just pointed to another elevator to get to my train so I hit the down button for the elevator and waited.

It came and as I was getting on, I heard it say "going down." Now I know I hear poorly, but I am 95% that is what it said.

Instead, though, it went up.

When it got to the street level, I said to the people waiting, "I'm going down." Knowing that I also don't always speak loudly and clearly, I also pointed down. Maybe they thought I was making a crude joke because they made no move to get on. One said, that's all right. I repeated myself. Finally, I said,don't you want to get on? And someone else said, Oh, are you going down?

We rode back to the mezzanine where they all got off. I continued to train level.

Once there, I had to get through the gates. Not easy. I pushed one side back, then the other. But when I pushed the second back, the first extended and blocked me. I eventually got stuck. One of the sides also knocked the cover off the joystick, which rolled off somewhere. I backed up and tried again, sort of got stuck, then made it through. I spotted the joystick and Claren grabbed it.

Now, I just had to wait for a train. It came fast, actually, and I realized I was too close to the rear of the station. The train drove right past me.

Another was due in a few minutes so I went to the front of the station, got on the train, got home easily.

But nothing is ever really easy.