This Morning's Crazy Metro Story
Cross-posted here: dcwmata LiveJournal.
So I was taking the train to work this morning, on the Blue line between Arlington Cemetery and Rosslyn about 9:15 am, reading my book, and I hear a commotion at the back of the car.
Some nondescript middle-aged white dude in a suit is shaking uncontrollably, for 2 or 3 minutes. I've never witnessed an epileptic seizure before, but I'm guessing this is what one looks like.
People help him to a seat, try to talk to him, ask "Has this ever happened before?", etc. A dude in army camo calls the conductor, using that red button, and advises her that a passenger on car [whatever] is sick.
We stop at Rosslyn. By then, he's recovered and is just sitting there, sweaty and exhausted. The Metro conductor comes back and asks him if he can walk off the train or if he needs to be carried.
And this guy says no, that he wants to stay on the train.
And he does.
For the next three stops.
WTF?
I was on that train, too, just not the same car!
Posted by: Dara on May 31, 2006 12:04 PM | permalink"And this guy says no, that he wants to stay on the train.
And he does.
For the next three stops.
WTF?"
Dude's got to get to work. Probably used all of his sick days accrued so far.
Posted by: Od-ll on May 31, 2006 12:47 PM | permalinkI took the blue this morning.
I generally take the first train since blue goes to Metro Center too, and waiting the 6 minutes is roughly equal.
Posted by: Dara on May 31, 2006 12:47 PM | permalinkO'd-ll:
That occurred to me, but the consensus on the LJ thread is that he was embarrassed and just wanted to get on with his day -- which sounds equally plausible.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on May 31, 2006 1:32 PM | permalinkwithout reading the thread on LJ, I'd agree that the dude has gotten used to having seizures and was more embarassed than anything else and just wanted everyone to forget about it and go on with their lives.
say you slipped on a small spill of coffee as your getting on to the train and land on your ass pretty hard. hard and loud enough so that the people in the other end of the car can hear it. do you accept help getting off the train to seek medical treatment or do you brush it off and try to forget about it?
Posted by: Daffy on May 31, 2006 3:38 PM | permalinkIf I fell on my ass, I would take off.
If it was something serious, I would accept the offers of help.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on May 31, 2006 4:41 PM | permalinkI have a young friend who has epillepsy. Of course, everyone is different, but in my friend's case, seizures mess with his brain quite badly. After a seizure he can be adrift from reality for quite some time. Kind of like a diabetic on a sugar-low.
If this is what happened to the guy on the train, it's entirely possible that he just wanted to continue to do exactly what he knew he was supposed to be doing, or that he wanted to take the fastest route to somewhere where he knew he was safe, or that he just wanted to sit until he felt OK.
It's also entirely possible that he got off at the wrong stop and didn't realise it.
PS: That is a brilliant CAPTCHA.
Posted by: Alan Green on May 31, 2006 8:19 PM | permalinkAlan:
I'm glad you like the captcha; it struck me as a good balance. It also works with images turned off, because the filename and alt attribute are really good clues.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on May 31, 2006 9:43 PM | permalinkWithout naming names, don't you remember the girl we hung out with a few summers ago (initials: L.R.) that used to get seizures periodically?
One night, she said that she "knew she'd be having one that night" and she did, on my mother's deck. She had a seizure and we held her so she wouldn't hurt herself. Afterwards, she said, "Let me rest for a few minutes." And she did, and recovered to hang out for the rest of the evening.
Posted by: max on June 1, 2006 10:00 AM | permalinkYeah, that was interesting how she knew one was coming. That said, that girl was insane; I don't know if a compulsive-liar anorexic knows what's best for her health.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on June 1, 2006 10:10 AM | permalinkNo more comments! Either someone has violated Godwin's Law, I'm tired of the discussion or, most likely, the ten-week window has closed. You can, however, contact me through email.