Clueless

A term that perfectly describes some of the people who run Metro. Which is, unfortunately, not surprising, as most of the Metro board members abstain from riding either the subway or the bus. Thus, just when you thought transit conditions couldn't get worse, you're proved wrong. Recently, I used Dupont Circle station's Q Street exit to reach the FarmFresh Market to get one of my favorite items, good and cheap, as well as some flowers (the accidental purchase).

As I had to leave the subway to enter the market, this is where the odyssey begins. Ordinarily, I might take an escalator upstairs, but I felt unsure about being able to keep my balance on one of them, as many of the escalators on the Red Line stations are extraordinarily steep, and I'm still recovering from surgery, so I decided to take the elevator, the general direction of which was politely pointed out by a station manager.

What the --- ? First of all, the entire walkway leading to the elevator was sopping wet. Oh yeah, someone had put a big fan in that corridor (yes, an entire corridor) to attempt to dry the floor, to no apparent avail. In this long, curved walkway, there was a long handrail on each side, thankfully, as I gingerly made my way to the elevator. (I don't know if there are any surveillance cameras in that corridor, as I was preoccupied with trying to keep from slipping to look up!) Did someone really fall if no one can see or hear her?

Finally, the elevator. What a mess. I immediately noticed that some of the space surrounding the bottom of the frame of the elevator was plugged (hastily) with synthetic material. This is presumably the source of the wet floor. Whatever happened to maintenance? Perhaps now that Metro's GM, Richard White, has finally begun riding the subway on a regular basis (after eight years as Metro's chief), more attention might be paid to these matters, which concern us mere mortals. (I'm not holding my breath, though.) Now is a good time, however, to discuss the transit issues bothering other users at Metroriders.org.

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On a slightly different vein, if you spot an immediate problem on Metro, such as someone woh appears "suspicious" but you don't see an employee nearby or in your part of the train, give the transit police a ring at (202) 962-2121. Here's to a better system.