T Adventures

For work today, I had to cover an event in Boston.  From Quincy, I decided the best way to get in was not driving, but the MBTA. Even if it means being in a small train car with many people, on a hot day that should be spent indoors, preferably with an AC on blast.  The ride to Boston was incident-free.  The ride back was a different story.  I stopped at Park St. on the way back to buy food at Finagle, and then got back to the tracks.  My first mistake was taking the Red Line to Ashmont, when I needed it to Braintree, and prepared to get off once I noticed my mistake.  

At Park St. I was given a free Snapple water, without realizing that I'm allergic to some of the flavorings in it.  Thankfully, I re-read the label and didn't open it, and held onto it... thinking I'd give it to someone when I got back to work.  I prepared to get off the train at Andrew to wait for the Braintree train, and left my Snapple water behind on purpose.  Mind everyone, my hands were full, my purse was heavy, I'm dying of heat exhaustion and the smell of sweat on the train, the last thing I wanted to do was carry around a Snapple water that I couldn't drink while waiting for another train on the (un-airconditioned, non-fanned) tracks.  I'm one step out of the train when a nearby guy inside the train says "Hey, you left your trash behind."

...i'm sorry?

In front of a crowded train, I believe I gave him a death stare, and willed myself to not say anything back (such as, mind your own business/allergy/#$*#$), grabbed the drink, and then carried it off the train, hurling it into the nearest trash can, where I'm sure a rat will chew through the plastic and drink it up.  What I hoped was someone who got onto the train would just take the water, as the seal was not broken, but that's pretty sketchy nonetheless.  The train was filled, it should be mentioned, with discarded Metros, and bits and pieces of Globes and Heralds, and food wrappers.  

We've all left food behind before.  Hell, some people have probably run off the train forgetting their kids.  But here's a note -- don't call people out on it.  We've all done it before, but we don't need to be reminded of it.  

I hope the rat that got a hand of the bottle enjoys strawberry acai water.