It's Not All Gripes and Grumbles
There's nothing but good news in this column.
I know how you feel. I was torn up about it, too. This is a column about transportation that doesn't match the day-to-day realities you encounter. Next time, we'll be back to sharing gripes about the Metro fare increase proposal, the late buses and the slow pace of road projects.
Let that go for now. I've collected a few reports of little things that went right. Happy holidays, everyone.
Recovering a Loss
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
On the morning of Sept. 17, I got on the Blue Line at Franconia-Springfield and took the third seat next to the window.
Shortly after sitting, I noticed that I could not find my SmarTrip card, which was in my Metro plastic case with my government picture ID and other important cards.
I sat there looking in both coat pockets and all around my seat and finally decided that the case had to have fallen into the tiny crack between the seat and the window. As the train continued, I thought: What car number am I on? I finally looked ahead of me at the exit door and remembered the number on the door. I also looked to the side and recorded the door numbers, which were 11 and 12.
Finally, the train stopped at my station, McPherson Square, and I got off and went to the station manager booth for assistance.
Mr. X listened to my story and proceeded to make a few unsuccessful attempts to contact his co-workers to further assist me. Mr. X then stated that he did not want to keep me from my job and suggested that I give him about an hour to see what he could do.
I went on to work and called Metro lost and found. Lost and found told me that the station manager would have to assist me with trying to retrieve my item, because lost and found has no way of stopping the trains.
So, after about an hour, I went back to the station. Mr. X started making phone calls again.
