Guess where I was last night?

Stuck on the D train going into Brooklyn. Check out the story from the Daily News.

Hell Over East River

I must say, compared to being stuck in Hurricane Katrina last year, this was a cake walk. It sure does seem like someone up there is testing Brad and I though!

So I leave work at 5:45 yesterday, trying to get home to meet Brad a little early, and it's going according to schedule. I switch from the 1 train to the D at 59th street, and just managed to run down the stairs and catch it, so I was sitting in the front of the train--not where I normally sit. The D train rambles down through Manhattan and begings to go over the Manhattan Bridge. Somewhere around 6 p.m. the train stops. No announcements, nothing. I called Brad around 6:15 to let him know that I would be late and it turns out that he was on the same train!! We made a tentative plan to get off the train at the next stop and take a cab from wherever we were. After we were on the train for around a half an hour, they finally made an announcement that there was a fire at Dekalb Avenue and the train ahead of us was being evacuated. They also cut the power. Fun. No air conditioning. The good news was that they unlocked the doors in between the cars so Brad walked up and met me. I was really glad got to be together. So we stood there getting really, really hot for a while. At some point an MTA worker walked by and said anyone pregnant, with heat exhaustion, diabeties, asthma, or other lung problems should walk to the front of the train. Since Brad has asthma, we walked to the front of the train and waited some more. At around 7:45, they finally began evacuating the car that we were in. The firefighters and police officers cut a hole in the chainlink fence on the Manhattan Bridge, opened up the subway car doors, placed a narrow green metal plank between the floor of the car and the bridge railing, and there was a step ladder for us to walk down. When I was walking over the plank (I felt like a pirate arrrrrrgggaagggraaggghhaaa! heeheehee) there were officers and firefighters holding my hands as I walked. One of them told me "Keep going and just don't look down!" and another told me "Don't worry darling, it's just like dancing!" I was very grateful for their good spirits and kindness. They were really fantastic. We then walked over the rest of the bridge, did a bunch of interviews (the media loves our disaster stories! heehee), walked up Flatbush Avenue, caught a gypsy cab on Flatbush and Fourth Avenue, and finally got home around 9 p.m.

I must say, I was very impressed with Brad and I, and with our fellow passengers. We all stayed pretty calm and all things considered, it didn't really take them all that long to come and rescue us. I suppose being a New Yorker, stuff like this comes with the territory, but I do wish that the powers that be would stop testing us. It's getting kind of old. We get it. Brad and I are disaster survivors. Alright already! Maybe there is a book in that... :-)