Sometimes riding BART can put you to sleep; other times it is hard to breath. Today was a usual ride, meaning that we were all packed in like sardines. Like most of the rest of the travelers – the choice is to stare off into nothing or read. Well, except for those who play games on their phones, but they don’t count.

So there I was, reading. Embarcadero, Montgomery. Two stops where most of the people exit BART and head off to wherever they will be entombed for the day. But not today, for some reason the car in which I was riding stayed packed so I drifted back to my book. The next time I looked up we were at …. 16th and Mission? Whoops – I was a stop too far and barely made it on to the platform before the door snapped shut behind me.

At least getting back was easy, unlike many of the subway locations in NYC or Metro in DC – just walk across the platform and grab the next inbound train. Ride one stop and I was back to Civic Center where I should have exited the other train in the first place.  It was good that I had left early since those extra minutes could have resulted arriving late for class, not one of those things that any of us appreciate. I mean, really. Wander in after the class has started? Not a great choice, but the only one when they take attendance.

I will be sincerely glad when all the trains in the system have been replaced with cars that have electric signs at the ends and clear announcements in the cars. After all, it can’t possibly be MY fault that I missed my stop, now can it?