One morning recently the subway was "single tracking" around a train on the platform at L'Enfant Plaza due to a "sick customer." We were delayed, sitting in the tunnel for 10-15 minutes. When we pulled into L'Enfant station several people were grumping about being delayed, and someone said, well we are having a better morning than that person did. I looked into the other train. There were no medical personnel around, but a couple of police officers standing next to a lump on the floor covered by a blanket. Someone had died on the train during their morning commute. In six years I have seen it twice, both times at that station. Yep, I was having a better morning then he/she did.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! never saw THAT happen in the 20 years I lived there. what a way to go!
ReplyDeleteIf you die of natural causes, Metro does not talk about it. When you look at the number of people who ride the system, it is going to happen. I've only passed one clean up scene from a jumper.
DeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteOnce I was at a sale at John Wanamaker's department store in Philadelphia. People were stepping over an old man who had just collapsed on the floor. He was an ashened gray color. People continued to step over his slumped body on the ground of the department store, reaching for the 50% off ties. The EMT arrive and yep, the man was dead. For some reason, I lost my interest in the sale and went back to work, sans any 50% off ties.
Ron
Sad that people stepped over, my experience on Metro is that people are good about summoning help when a passenger goes down. Frequently there is someone on the train that has some training.
DeleteWe are all going to die, sooner or later, I would sooner go suddenly doing things I want to do, then slip away by inches in a hospital or nursing home.
Same here David. Ideally I prefer to go in my sleep. I do not want to go violently or fade away, hooked up to IV systems and dragging on like my friend Wayne "The Cajun" did. It wasn't the way he wanted to go either but sometimes we don't have a choice. It just evolves.
DeleteRon
Interesting. I guess with the volume of riders, statistics say that one will die occasionally. It is interesting that only about 5% of people survive a major heart attack, and I suspect that or a stroke or aneurysm got this poor soul.
ReplyDeletePeace <3
Jay
what an ignominious way to die.
ReplyDelete