Connecticut: Home to nice people, and crappy trains

This weekend I ventured into "the country" (aka Connecticut) to visit a friend. I took the train there and we had a lovely day visiting Yale (we saw Rory Gilmore's dorm!), shopping at IKEA (which I never need to go back to), and watching football (well, my friends watched while I asked stupid questions like, "When do they say 'Hut, Hut, Hike?'").

After the game, we checked the schedule for return trains home and headed to dinner. The meal finished earlier than expected, so we rushed to try and make the earlier train, only to pull up to the station as it was pulling away. We returned home to watch more football, (this time my brilliant query was, "So why doesn't the guy that kicks the ball run around on the field with the other guys? All he does is come out to kick?") and then drove back to the train station. I got there about 10 minutes before my train, and my friends assured me that they were dropping me off on the right side of the platform. I waited a few minutes, looking for some confirmation that I was indeed on the NYC-bound side, but neither my platform nor the one across the tracks said anything about which direction they were going. Then I saw my train coming--on the other side of the tracks.

I ran through the station, down the stairs, through a tunnel under the tracks, back up the stairs (where I tripped and cut my hand) through the other station, and out onto the platform, just in time to see the train pulling away. Frustrated, tired, and out of breath, I went to call my friends--only to discover that my cell phone was dead. To make things worse, I didn't have any change for a pay phone because I'd spent it all at a Yale parking meter. I did have some dollar bills though, so I started asking (well, begging, really) for someone to give me change for a dollar. I must have looked pretty pathetic because no one even wanted my dollar in return for their quarters, and one woman even offered to buy me a train ticket (which I didn't need).

I had to first call my mother so she could go into my email account and find my friend's cell phone number. Then I called my friend, who ended up coming to pick me up and driving me all the way back into the city. And now I have an extra one-way ticket, good for the next three months, meaning I'll probably attempt this adventure again one day soon, sheesh.

So there you have it. Beware of Connecticut! It has nice people, but an evil unmarked train system that tries to trap you there.