OK. So. Woke up this morning at 8. My train was scheduled to leave at 10. It generally takes me about 20 minutes to get to the train station, but I figured that, since it had snowed yesterday, I'd leave some extra time. But I also figured that, since the snow had stopped at least 12 hours earlier, it wouldn't be that bad -- everything would be plowed and shoveled.
I forgot to factor in that I live in DC, where everybody seems surprised every year to remember that yes, we get snow.
So, first plan -- go to the corner and catch a cab like I usually do. I quickly realized that this plan would not work. There were no cabs on the street. There were no cars on the street. Seriously, I stood there about five minutes, on what's normally a very busy street, and saw three cars go by.
I was right in front of a hotel, and I figured they'd know what was going on with the cabs, so I went inside to ask if any cab companies were running and whether I could call them. The hotel people were very nice -- called not only every dispatch in the city, but also a few friends who drove cabs. No cabs. At all. None of the dispatch numbers even picked up.
But, luckily, I had left enough time for alternate plans, and I started heading toward the Metro. About halfway down the first block, I end of in front of a building that hasn't shoveled yet. (Did I mention that the snow stopped 12 hours earlier? And that it was already 9 in the morning, not like 5 or something?) I realize that there is no way I'm going to be able to roll my heavy suitcase any further. I need to walk in the street instead of on the sidewalk. Just climbing over the snowbank seems like a better idea than trying to find a break in it. Some guy walking down the street helps me partway over with my suitcase. I only fall down twice. Snowbanks are soft. I'm very glad that, in my "snow boots or hiking boots?" decision earlier that morning, I went with snow boots. As I'm walking, I notice that several city streets haven't been plowed yet.
So I get to the Metro. The Metro is actually running fairly smoothly -- they canceled all service to the aboveground stations and are just running the trains back and forth in the underground portion. I get to the train station about 15 minutes before my train is scheduled to leave. I glance at the Departures board and realize that many trains are delayed. It's almost 10, and one train scheduled for 7:25 still hasn't left. But I figure, that train is to Vermont. My train is just to New York, and I know that there's not much snow between here and there, so it can't be delayed too much.
So I sit, and wait. The train is delayed. First they say it's delayed 15 minutes. Then half an hour. Then an hour. Then two hours. Then, an hour and 45 minutes after it was supposed to depart, there's an announcement that it's canceled. The announcement tells us to go line up at the ticket counter to exchange our tickets.
A few hundred people at once run for the ticket counter. I end up on line with a few other people on the same train, and we consider our options. We don't really have any options. After about 15 minutes on the line, during which time we move forward about 10 feet, an Amtrak employee starts walking through the line shouting, "If you are holding a ticket for the 10:00 Acela train, mumble mumble mumble." I can't hear the last part of what he's saying, but I am holding a ticket for the 10:00 train, and as soon as he says whatever he's saying, a ton of people grab their bags and start running, so I follow them.
We end up on line at a gate. A gate! To get on a train! As I get near the front of the line, I see the conductor come up to the ticket-taker and tell her, "Fifteen more! We can only fit fifteen more people. The next fifteen, and then that's it." I count. I am the eighth person on line. I work very hard at not letting anybody shove in front of me, and end up on the train. I don't know what train, but it's a train. And it's moving.
The train announcements come on. Turns out, this (continued...)