ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Forgetting his PelicanPass for the second time this week, one local city worker sighed heavily and went over to buy a single ride from the ticket window.
The line up at the Windrower Avenue Station ticket window is always long and Michael Ponting simply didn’t have time for it – the 8:02 to the Old City District was fast approaching the platform.
So he jogged lightly up to the turnstiles and with great difficulty, vaulted the turnstiles and boarded the train.
Though many Betoota MetroLine employees saw him do it, not one of them cared enough about their job to stop him.
But once he was safe inside the rear carriage, he went to put his headphones in and tune out for the 20 minutes it takes to head into town.
But to his horror, after frantically checking every pocket, he realised that his headphones were still on his bedside table at home.
“Fucks sake,” he said.
“What the hell am I supposed to do now? I can’t listen to my Joe Rogan without headphones, it’d disturb the rest of the people here. Sometimes I wish I was less considerate,”
“This is the first time I’ve let myself down like this, I’ve never done my morning commute without headphones before. Don’t know what to expect.”
Despite his pessimism, the 28-year-old finance worker made it to work without dying of boredom.
He told The Advocate that he actually enjoyed the silence as it allowed him to have a period of deep introspection.
“I learned a lot about myself this morning, might try it again.”
More to come.
