I went on a business trip last week, to Kista over night. I and my college took the 18:20 train home and it was supposed to arrive at 19:58. However, just south of Södertälje the train stopped on the tracks due to a broken door that wouldn't lock and for safety reasons the train can't keep going then. After 10 minutes we were told about the door. 30 minutes later we were told they were trying to reboot the door computers by hand to solve the problem.
An hour later they said they would back up to Södertälje so we could change trains. Nothing happened though and a while later they said they had to turn off the cabin lights to get more power. Nothing happened. The train lurged a bit, a few times, but didn't move. People cheered and clapped there hands with sarcasm when again we were told there was a problem with a door.
I noticed, not for the first time, that the normal rule of No Talking To Stranger was set aside. After 30 minutes on a train that's not moving or during a long power outage or when caught in an elevator or when the house across the street is burning or any other really out of the ordinary things happens, then suddenly people start talking to strangers. Everyone wants to ask who's missing their connections, who had a longer power outage before or how their house burned down once.
I realised I was seated next to a very nice girl, Linda, who was going all the way to Malmö to visit her boyfriend over the weekend (later I learned that the train wouldn't arrive at Malmö until 05 next morning). We ended up in the Bistro hanging on the counter and chatting with people who came by and with the people working on the train. Linda was friends with one of them, Marina, who introduced us to her college Olof. Both of them turned out to be very nice and Olof had a great dry sense of humour which came in handy when it took four hours before the train finally started moving again and we backed up till Södertälje.
There we had to wait for another half an hour for a replacement train and finally start moving forward again. So 4,5 hours late, at 00:26, we finally arrived at Linköping C. I wasn't in bed till 01:15. However, apart from the fact that I'd rather have been at home, I had a pretty good time.
An hour later they said they would back up to Södertälje so we could change trains. Nothing happened though and a while later they said they had to turn off the cabin lights to get more power. Nothing happened. The train lurged a bit, a few times, but didn't move. People cheered and clapped there hands with sarcasm when again we were told there was a problem with a door.
I noticed, not for the first time, that the normal rule of No Talking To Stranger was set aside. After 30 minutes on a train that's not moving or during a long power outage or when caught in an elevator or when the house across the street is burning or any other really out of the ordinary things happens, then suddenly people start talking to strangers. Everyone wants to ask who's missing their connections, who had a longer power outage before or how their house burned down once.
I realised I was seated next to a very nice girl, Linda, who was going all the way to Malmö to visit her boyfriend over the weekend (later I learned that the train wouldn't arrive at Malmö until 05 next morning). We ended up in the Bistro hanging on the counter and chatting with people who came by and with the people working on the train. Linda was friends with one of them, Marina, who introduced us to her college Olof. Both of them turned out to be very nice and Olof had a great dry sense of humour which came in handy when it took four hours before the train finally started moving again and we backed up till Södertälje.
There we had to wait for another half an hour for a replacement train and finally start moving forward again. So 4,5 hours late, at 00:26, we finally arrived at Linköping C. I wasn't in bed till 01:15. However, apart from the fact that I'd rather have been at home, I had a pretty good time.
1 comment:
Oh look, a Jenny-blog! :)
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