A Rough Start.

I jogged to my apartment following my magazine writing midterm and then scrambled to shower and finish packing for fall break. Then I took the slowest cab possible to the Santa Maria Novella station to catch the 13:30 train to Venice where I would meet my parents before departing on our cruise. Already two minutes late for my train I was shocked to see it still in bin 10 as I entered the station. Sprinting through the crowds, with my enormous suitcase in tow, I got to the doors of the train literally the moment they hissed shut. Furious at myself, the cab driver and everyone who had ever wronged me in my life I banged my little fists on the door, begging and pleading with the conductor inside to open the door. No dice.

Then I watched, pathetic and helpless, as my 12:30 train to Venice left the stati have on without me. Enraged and heartbroken I called my mom in Milan to let her know I had missed my train.

Eventually I rallied and headed to the ticket counter. After standing in line for 15 minutes to get another ticket for the 1:30 train I bought the only thing in the world that could cheer me up, a McDonald’s McChicken. I found myself a nice little spot and went about devouring my lunch. After I dusted the salt off my fingers and finished my coca-cola light I went to glance at my ticket to check the train number, only to find that I had lost the damn thing somewhere between the ticket counter and McDonald’s! After a few choice four letter words I had to laugh at myself and get back in line for another ticket with only 18 minutes to spare.

Minutes ticked by as I slowly made baby steps toward the counter. Again, with two minutes to spare I finally got the nerve to ask the four people in front of me if I could cut so I could make the 1:30 train to Venice. Once again I found myself sprinting to bin 10 with my suitcase skidding and screeching along behind me. With less than 30 seconds to spare I had actually made it on the train and went and found my seat.