Guess and Check

Less than an hour ago, I stood on the platform of the 2/3 Clark St. station. A 3 train pulled in, and not surprisingly was quite full. The area around the door I had chosen that morning was particularly packed, but I knew I could fit. To help things along, as I entered the train I began to remove my large backpack to place at my feet so that it wouldn’t be taking up other people’s precious personal space.

Here’s where things turned ugly.

Today’s weather report promised of highs in the sixties, so I chose not to wear a jacket or sweater, as I had become accustomed to already this Spring. The absence of outerwear left my Motorola StarTAC ST7868W cell phone exposed on my holster-like belt clip.

As I swung my backpack off, I managed to knock my phone clear out of its holster and right between the 1.75 inch crack between the subway platform and the door of the train I was entering. I heard a woman who had been watching me enter the train gasp in horror, and I made eye contact with her and just shook my head in disbelief.

I could have just gotten on that train and felt sorry about the loss of the phone I’ve had since 1999.

Instead, I stepped off the train and placed my backpack down on the platform. The doors closed, and the women gave me a puzzled look as the train pulled away.

After the train had cleared, I knelt down and looked for my phone. I could see it there, about five feet below on the ground next to the tracks. I could see that the battery had come off, and after searching for another few seconds, I located it about four feet from the phone. I jumped down, grabbed the phone and battery, put them on the platform, and hauled myself back up.

This clearly violated the MTA‘s safety advice about not going near the tracks because they contain 600 volts of live electricity.

Anyway, I inserted the battery back into the phone, and not surprisingly (since I know from pervious experience that this is one tough phone) the phone powered on normally. The next train came in a minute later, and I entered this much less crowed train with what I’m sure was a look of great accomplishment.

Tom: 1; 3 train: 0.