Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Is This What I Have to Look Forward To?

On Monday I took a different way home from work because I didn’t have to pick up Leland. He stayed home sick. Don’t worry, he’s not really sick. He was just tired and wanted to clean the house.

Anyway, as I was driving home I got stopped by a commuter train. Whenever I don’t have to pick up Leland I always try to race home to beat the train. On Monday I wasn’t fast enough and ending up sitting for a few minutes waiting for the train to unload passengers and leave the station.

As I was sitting there ever so impatiently, I saw an old woman walking up to the tracks. She was OLD. She was wearing a plastic bag tied around her head and big black sunglasses that made her look like a fly. I saw her look back and forth across the tracks several times and started to get nervous.

Are you fucking kidding me, I thought to myself. If you cross those tracks and get hit by the train I will be scarred for life and may never be able to get a good nights sleep again. You better not fucking cross those tracks!

I actually thought about rolling down my window and yelling at her but for some reason I didn’t. Maybe I thought I was overreacting.

I took my eyes off of the old woman and glanced over at the train station. I saw the train lurch forward and start moving. This made me so happy because I was eager to get home. My happiness only lasted for a split second because I saw the old woman approach the tracks. I saw her walk around the gate that had flashing lights all over it and walk onto the tracks.

I immediately started screaming. People in other cars started screaming. People on the street started screaming.

But the old lady seemed to not hear any of it or simply didn’t care.

The train let out a super loud whistle, over and over again.

But the little old lady just kept crossing the tracks. She didn’t seem to be in any big hurry either.

She made it to the other side of the tracks with no more than three feet to spare. It wasn’t until she cleared the tracks that I realized I had been holding my breath.

Really people? Is this what we have to look forward to when we get older? Will I eventually get to a time in my life that I forgot to obey train gates and flashing lights? Will a time come that I cannot even hear the ridiculously loud horn on a train? I am the most impatient person in the world but there is no way in hell I would ever cross the train tracks when the gates are down and the lights are flashing. I have to work like hell to remember that when I am older.

Yes, it was cold outside and I am sure this old woman just wanted to get home, but come on. You made it this far in your life, do you really want to die by getting smashed by a train?

Probably not.

45 comments:

Leslie said...

YIKES, that's scary! I hope that's not what you have to look forward to as you get older, cause I'm closer to it than you are!!! One of the last places I want to end my demise is on the train tracks. I'm hoping for... in my bed... in my sleep... when I'm at least 100!

Stopping by from SITS to say hello!

Anonymous said...

wow. at least she's ok, right?
;-)

Cathy said...

GAH!! That's so scary.

Did you feel the earthquake there?

jv726 said...

Oh.My.God. I am so glad she didn't get smashed by the train, not only for her sake, but yours! I would seriously be emotionally scarred by that, for life. Yikes.
Getting old scares the beejesus out of me. I don't really want to do it...But of course I don't want to NOT do it either. Why cant we just stay young forever!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the old bird knew her Physics and knew she'd have time to clear the tracks...

Glad you weren't emotionally scarred for life!

Taylor-Made Wife said...

Holy shit! I was holding my breath just reading this!

said...

Oh my god. I would have seriously peed myself. Maybe she was just tired of being old and hoped to get some good settlement money for her survivors?

Gucci Mama said...

Holy COW! Thank God she's OK!

Suzi Q said...

OMG! Do you think she just didn't realize the train was coming? I'm glad she ended up okay but holy crap!

Aubrey said...

I would have FLIPPED out.

kristi said...

Maybe she was blind and deaf?? I would have shit in my pants watching that.

JenJen said...

uh....remind me to call me Grandma more often.

Vodka Logic said...

OMG what a crazy person.

We have gotten traumas in the er that have been hit by trains...not pretty

Confessions From A Work-At-Home Mom said...

Oh my gosh, that is absolutely insane... INSANE! I want to know why she did that... I need an explanation!

By the way, I completely hear ya on the "I don't need sex everyday" thing!

~Elizabeth
Confessions From A Working Mom

SurferWife said...

OMG, I can't believe you saw that! Thank God, flylady made it safely or even I, from just reading your experience, wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Anonymous said...

its scary to say the least...

and as much as i hate to think about maybe this is what we have to llook forward to...

yes, very scary

Carma Sez said...

I'm assuming she was deaf?????? or just an idiot - it could go either way on this one ;-)

Getting old sucks. No doubt.

I'm still stuck on the part about Leland wanting to clean!!!!!! Dang, you've got it good :D

Karls said...

Man! That is crazy! You hear about that shit happening all the time... thankfully I've never been privy to an actual viewing.

The Old White Barn said...

The closer I get to the 'old woman' stage the scarier it looks! Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comment on my new blog look! I'm now following!
Susan

Anything Fits A Naked Man said...

Wow! I was holding my breath just READING this! Thank goodness she made it but, I'm with you...DANG!!!

You may know from reading my blog that I have an extra soft spot in my heart for seniors, and it breaks my heart that this woman was out on her own like that when she was clearly disabled (if nothing else, with her hearing!).

Your writing of this incident was terrific, by the way. Great post!!

sarah said...

omg i would have lost my mind and screamed and freaked. right. out. if i had been watching that!!! thank god she is okay but jeez... this further supports my thought that all old people need 24 hour supervision

aladdinsane12 said...

holy shit! i seriously almost had a heart attack just READING this- i can't imagine what it was like to actually see it! ugh, i never want to get old.

Elle said...

OMG! I was holding my breath just reading this, so I can't imagine what it was like to watch it play out. Scary! Geez--that woman could've scarred you for life had she been hit.

Kelly Loy Gilbert said...

That is terrifying!!!! I'm so glad she's okay. My gosh.

yellowdoggranny said...

i would have ran after her and beat the shit out of her for scaring the shit out of me..old lady or not..

debi9kids said...

OMGOSH! I was holding my breathe reading this! YIKES!

Anonymous said...

omg, i was holding my breath as i was just READING that :s
its my worst nightmare to fall onto train tracks... i love being on them, don't really like them so much when im standing near one as it goes past at top speed :S

xx

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad she made it across the tracks okay because I was giggling reading your post. I would have felt like crap if she got smooshed.

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness!!! This story made me nauseous... just thinking of what you *could* have been a witness to!

I'm glad she made it. *shaking head* Some people's grandmas, I tell ya!

Tania @ Larger Family Life said...

How frightening! I think I'd have squeezed my eyes shut and repeated "There's no place like home..."

Grilled Cheese said...

Sweet mother of pearl!

That's not old. That's gotta be stupid.

I mean, I know my brain might turn to applesauce but hopefully my ears will still work.

Good God! I would've thrown up watching that unfold.

Anonymous said...

Maybe she wanted to die!

Or,

Maybe she got this far in life by being super stubborn and not afraid?

That would have been really scary to watch.

THank you for the comment on my blog today! I really like the way you write and I am a new follower!!

Stephanie Faris said...

UGH! That would drive me crazy, watching that! It seems like people just hit slow motion when they're on train tracks. I don't know why. With cars, they say there's something electrical that makes cars stall.

Confessions From A Work-At-Home Mom said...

HANDS DOWN you win for best comment on my blog today- you should come back and link up with that answer so more people can read it! I'm still cracking up, just imagining your parents' shocked faces!

~Elizabeth
Confessions From A Working Mom

Holly Lefevre said...

That is just plain scary. I am just glad no one was hurt and scarred for life. Thing is, I see people do crazy stuff like this all the time....I am not patient, but I will not take on a train!

Annie said...

thanks for visiting my blog...

seriously...shoot me before it gets to this point!! old ladies are NUTS!

Keeper of the Skies Wife said...

Holy crap....I was holding my breath reading your post.

Thats scary.

Tracie said...

I thought old people were supposed to be wise. I'm glad she didn't get smooshed.

Melissa B. said...

Oh, this is sad, in a way. And you could make some money if you wrote a personal essay about it. I'm thinking about the My Turn column at Newsweek. You should look into it!

manic momma said...

I would have shit my pants. I wonder what in the world she was thinking? Scaaary. At least she is ok!

Jen said...

Maybe she wanted to end it all and chickened out at the end? Or maybe she is like most old people around here who have no idea that they are holding the rest of us up (and apparently scaring the shit out of some of us).

Annie said...

oh my gosh!!! how flippin' scary!!!

p.s. thanks for stopping by my blog! you now have a new follower :)

Jessica said...

Holy moly! I would have been freaking out, too. Lets just pray this isn't how we'll be some day!

Intense Guy said...

Having shoveled snow for some hours the past few weeks - I felt old and surrendered some fo teh shoveling to someone much younger than I... I think we all have to acknowledge that if we get old - we will have those traits of the elderly. And some of our already existing traits will magnify and sharpen - so if you are a stubborn youngster - you will be a truly muleheaded oldster.

I am glad you didn't witness someone getting run over - I'm sure a many ton train don't leave much of a puny human unmangled.

Sadako said...

Holy crap, that is freaky. Old people of the world--be more careful.