Scribbles

Ah, how life humbles you.  After a seriously long travel and work day yesterday, I woke up early to catch the train into work.  As I walked through the subway station, picking up breakfast, I thought smugly how comfortable I am being in Munich.  Not speaking any German, yet being able to navigate the system with ease, I am truly the international business traveler.  And on top of that, I'm taking public transportation, saving the world from unwarranted carbon emissions and my company from extra expenses.  I even bought a 3-day pass, extra savings!

During this shameless self-congratulatory ego stroking, I noticed the usual electronic boards not displaying any train information.  Hmm… what was going on?  Well, other people were waiting, so it must be a glitch in the system.  Everyone in Munich boasts to me how efficient and on time the trains here are.  They're clean and reliable they claim.  Twenty minutes pass while I study the train schedule, noting something amiss.  Finally a train arrives and I pick up the words “Ostbanhoff”, the other main train hub.  Fair enough, I had to go there anyways, so I could take this one and transfer.  We all get on and it is seriously crowded, Tokyo crowded.  I've had smushed pastries before and I can settle for less pretty breakfast.  At Ostbanhoff, I stroll to the other platform and notice a lot of confusion and still an undecipherable message on display.  I decide to ask. 

“There are strikes going on today.”

Hmm… great.  I leave the station and cab over to work, wasting a big chunk of time and arriving nowhere close to what I wanted.  And to think, I could've just slept in and taxied the whole route.  When you think your God's gift to the world, the powers above, through the ever hard working European work force, will put you in your place.  The lesson is to be humble, accept being a slacker, wake up as late as possible, and just expense the damn cab fare.