Train Train*
*Train train in French means Daily Grind.
We have established this before, the RER A in Paris is a mean muthaf**ka.
Yes. That's right.
It's personal. The RER A breaks down because it hates me. And me alone.
I know this.
And yet, you would think that I would also know that I shouldn't make decisions early in the workday morning without having had coffee beforehand.
So when I was at Gare de l'Est station and I saw that there were no RER A trains running within Paris between the stations Nation and La Défense (you know, the line that 3 million people use to commute into work everyday) because of a faulty train track.... I could have taken the metro to Line 2, which would have brought me all the way to work via Pigalle.
However.
I am dumb without coffee.
I made the decision to take the métro to Line 1. Because the connection from Line 7 to Line 2 is very annoying. That's what I based my decision on.
I think that basing my decision on annoyance is very funny.
So I decided to go to Line 1. The only line going to La Défense where all the suits work. I remembered that when it was too late.
No wonder people commit suicide in the métro. You have no idea how many people were down there with me patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for the opportunity to get on a cattle carrier.
I texted a colleague: "No RERs and Line 1 saturated. Will be late."
She texted back: "No worries!"
That was sort of cheerful and inappropriate given the circumstances. I texted her: "NO WORRIES? What worries me is that retirement is over 30 YEARS AWAY!"
She told me later that that texto made her laugh.
Me? Not so much. When I texted it to her, the thought struck me that I should be frightened to death rather than resigned to my fate.
When I finally managed to get on a métro, there was a crazy lady near the back: "Faulty rail tracks?" she kept yelling out, "Bollocks! This is in preparation of the big rail strike for tomorrow! Everyone needs to know that most of the time, if there is a problem in the métro, it's because the workers have walked off the job! You see, they're allowed 50 minutes where they can just drop everything! A rotational strike if you will! They say that the train problems are due to sick passengers or faulty material to keep us from going completely fucking nuts all over their sorry asses!"
We all looked at her. Crammed together like that, there wasn't much else we could do.
"More people need to know!"
Actually. I'm not sure I needed to know that.
Thirty-odd years to go.
That makes you think.
I'm thinking that perhaps I should just give up the gory glory and figure out a new day job: like teaching English to the French in the burbs.
I really need to start researching that up. Really. Especially the part about learning how to teach. Because I have no clue whatsoever.
And how it can be done without having to do any of the ridiculous French concours.
Though I am lucky in that my place of work has promised croissants in consolation for the misery to the people who manage to show up tomorrow...
...That really isn't enough to hold me for thirty-odd years.
Not nearly enough.
Suggestions? They would be more than welcome.
16 COMMENT(s):
It can be done--the no concours thingy. I'm doing it (AND i don't have a friggin degree either, so HA!)
Let's have cawfee and I'll 'splain it all to ya!
cycle.
i guess walking or a taxi weren't options?
Then I would have called in sick and gone to sit in a café...followed perhaps by a rummage in a bookstore or brocante. Something totally and selfishly just for me. followed by a nice, 2 wine lunch out.
some times the world speaks to us in funny ways. What's the worst thing that could have happened?
If you get the scoop from someone, let me know!! I need to find something out here in middle-of-nowhere-Seine-and-Marne too!
I know what you mean. I hate the commute, hate my job at the bank, and pretty much everyday I say that exact same thing to myself.
Good luck with the strike tomorrow!
I love that photo. I so miss taking the train. I loved taking the train to work while I read, slept, and dreamed. Le sigh.
Hope that you can catch your train very soon.
No suggestions. But I commiserate with your pain. No coffee makes me stupid too...
I forgot to mention I learned about the saying *train, train* in French class. I was quite proud of the fact I recognized it in your post! lmao (its the little things)
Great photo. Btw you can teach english with no training whatsoever but just be careful about private language schools because they will send you EVERYWHERE and give you all kinds of crazy hours. Working for the Ed. Ntl is good (as a TA) and then on the side giving private lessons at home to fill hours. That's what I always did & I made better money and ran around less. Good luck.
(haha love your comment blurb under "leave your comment")
That image is fantastic.
The trains in Adelaide stopped yesterday because it was so hot that the tracks bowed. In other words, it was so hot that the tracks melted.
I live in Auckland, NZ where there are only two train routes going from one end of the city to the other. When it breaks down, you're pretty much fu*ked. I so sympathize with your situation.. Maybe get a scooter?
I'm new to your blog, so I don't know you very well yet (lol), but why not give drawing lessons?
I've learned how to teach, still haven't a bloody clue! You'll be fine.
So, did you show up for croissants?
Doc: I find it so funny that for the French system, having three kids is the same as having a degree. I don't have the three kids, but I have a degree. So I guess I'm good to go.
lkajfdslkjdfo: I wish.
N,JNRR: Gads. If I could just call in to work and say I'm not coming in because of train problems, I'd never go to work. :-) My house is 30 km from Paris and the highways going into Paris are nightmarish during rush hour. Once during a strike, I walked from Paris's Hotel de Ville to Alma-Marceau (the bridge where Lady Di died) and it took me over an hour. I have a new appreciation for how very big the Louvre is.
In this country, if you want to keep your job, you have to justify unscheduled absences with a Dr's note saying you were too sick to come in.
One of these days, you and I are going to have to do a 2 wine lunch. When are you coming to Paris next?
ashley: Ugh. Banks. I hear you, baby. What part of Seine et Marne are you in? Are we neighbors?
Catherine: Thanks. Hugs to you too. And a coffee. Too bad we're too far apart for a coffee meetup and chat.
N,JNRR: Hooray! Yes! It is the little things. Bravo!
miss chris: I think that I now have a crush on you. thank you so much for your comment!
A Free Man: Thanks. I took that photo in Paris's Auber RER A station. It is the gaping maw that I stride down every morning. And melting tracks? Woah.
lindada: Yikes. Your comment reminded me of Vancouver's sky train from 15 years ago. I wonder if that thing has improved. Unfortunately I live too far away for a scoot.
Isabelle: Oh god. I wish. But, like for anything else, unless I have an employer (ie, not freelancing), it's complicated because I'm not sure how taxes work for practicing artists who also teach (they are considered two separate entities here).
I once tried the concours for a drawing professorship in Paris. There were 10 jobs and 800 candidates and it was an exam where you had to write a thesis like essay on post-modern French art. I was completely lost and bailed.
Michelle: I ended up arriving not too late. Paris was a bit ghostlandish yesterday. And yes, the office "delivered". There were croissants and coffee in the lobby when I arrived.
And La Belette! I rather like the photo too. If I only had one train to deal with, I suppose it would be OK. But I have a commuter train, a métro and a dodgy RER (and that's only one way) and all that is sort of dragging me down. But I shall prevail!
Just this morning I asked a teacher of ESL if she could teach me how to teach.
Did she look surprised? Do tell!
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