If you go to school in Winona, trains are as common as planes are in the Cities.
Don’t get me wrong – the trains that pass through Winona are almost guaranteed to have passed through my hometown, so I am used to them, but I never have to wait for them as much as I do while in Winona.
One week, I had to wait for three really long trains and I realized that a lot can happen in those five-plus minutes. Here is my “train of thought” while waiting for a train:
1. Oh crap, the red lights are going off–I knew I should’ve left three minutes earlier.
2. I hope it’s not a long train. I wanted to go to the c-store before my night class starts to get something to snack on.
**One minute passes**
3. Dang it, I should’ve guessed that it would be a long one.
4. Better put the car in park since there is no way I’m having my foot on the brake the entire time.
5. I wonder if I have any food in my backpack since I won’t have time to make it to the c-store before class…
**Two more minutes pass**
6. Literally every station in my preset is having a commercial break.
7. Oh wait, FINALLY a song.
8. Just kidding, I don’t even like this song.
9. Maybe the next station has a song I like…
**Two more minutes pass**
10. Yes, finally a song and one that I like! **turns up the volume**
11. **sings really loud and obnoxiously* Good thing I’m in the car by myself; otherwise I wouldn’t have any friends. (Sometimes I like to think that I am with James Corden in his “Carpool Karaoke” sketch)
12. Man, this line of cars is getting really long. I can’t imagine what it looks like on the other side of the train…
13. **finally sees the end of the train* Ah yes, the end is near.
14. **sees the train bars go up** This is the best part of my day.
15. Ah crap, now I have to turn to get to campus and the line of cars is impossibly long on the other side…
This is just one of my trains of thought I have while waiting for a train in Winona, and I know I will have many more since I am more than likely going to have to wait for a train again sometime soon.
P.S. The day after I wrote this, I had to wait for a train, and this one did the thing where it goes back and forth and I was late for class. #yeahtrains