Day Three: Kiddie Train (once again)

I was somewhat relieved and somewhat angered when I was told I would be on the kiddie train today--relieved because I already knew how to work the ride, and angered because I wasn’t in a new environment. I can only take so much of looking at the same thing for eight hours. So I went to the train, turned it on, and was ready to go. And today was a day just like any other. Kids running around, not listening to me, and parents who don’t care if their children don’t listen. Swell. The day was pretty much the same as the first day except, for one, I knew what to expect, I knew exactly how much food was at Basgetti’s and right where the bathroom was. There were only a few things that got me. One of them was becoming overwhelmingly tired around three or four o’clock. I was so tired and just hoping that my relief would come. One thing that made my obnoxious child filled day better was by relief herself. Katie, was someone who was fun to be around. She asked me if I had any ibuprofen, and as a result of my saying no, she wondered if laying across the train tracks would lessen her pain. We went into a conversation on how the train would probably push her along the track (it doesn’t go that fast), and how she would then have pain in her side, which would only result in exchanging where the pain was.

It was one of the most interesting conversations I had, and that made my day a lot better for a short time. I was surprised when a blind girl was led onto the train. I didn’t stare, but I was fascinated--I had never actually met someone who was blind. To my surprise, she was a funny girl. As the train went around she began singing “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” This was one of those little things that brightened my day. Despite that, I did have problems of course. One guy walked right through the gate, strapped his kid in and began to walk away. As he was about to leave, he then asks me if his kid was fine to ride by herself, I remarked that I didn’t get a chance to measure her before he strapped her in. Turns out, she wasn’t big enough. Then, after the kid and his parents rode, I then saw the father lay his kid on a bench near the planes and change the kid’s diaper. And he did this right in the middle of the park! There are changing tables in the bathrooms you know! It was unbelievable. I tried to concentrate on my work, but I was so shocked that he would change his kid on a bench in public. Over all, the day was just as torturous as all the rest. After work, I felt like the tasmainian devil if the life were sucked out of him!

Once again, my day in a nutshell “Please sit down when the train is moving!”