Oh @$*&# subway moment

Chuck and I were very proud of ourselves for figuring out the subway and getting all the way to the museum this morning without one glitch. After the museum, we decided we would take the subway to an area of town that Chuck wanted to visit. We get down into the subway area and we’re waiting for the number nine train. Chuck told me that we would be getting off at the Bella Novelle station and thank goodness I was paying attention. Usually if it has to do with directions, I simply follow Chuck because my sense of direction is horrible on a good day. We’re standing on the platform and I hear Chuck say “ This is the train” so when the doors opened, I stepped onto the train and then the doors closed. I turned around to ask Chuck a question and he is nowhere to be found. What Chuck had said was “ is this the train?” as he as looking at the subway app on his phone. Oh what a difference two words can make. He looks up and I am nowhere to be found. He thought I’d gone to the restroom or I had wandered off, but he could not find me anywhere. He panicked. Of course, he couldn’t find me because I was on a train that had just left the station.

Meanwhile, back on the train, I panic for about 10 seconds because I am on a subway train in Paris with 10,000 people who do not speak English and I don’t speak French and I can’t find Chuck. Then I thought “ OK let’s regroup and figure this out.” I turned on my phone with its data package and sent Chuck a text. I asked him where he was and he said he was on the train behind me because he didn’t get on the train I was on because he couldn’t find me. I told him I would meet him at the stop that we were going to disembark and he said OK but for 10 minutes all I wanted was to see was his beautiful face. The train stopped at our destination and I got off with hundreds of other folks. Very quickly, the subway platform area cleared, and I was all alone in the bowels of Paris in an empty station. Six minutes later a train pulls up, and I am anxiously looking at all of the people flowing from the cars. When I saw his face, I was so grateful.

Lessons learned:

Confirm any the action before taking action

The cell phone is a gift from God in emergency situations

When you’re in the middle of a mess, regroup, and figure it out because really you have no other choice. Read more