My First Time Taking The Train
By Straubel Cetoute
ESL 0304
It was an early Tuesday morning on August 20, 2002 when I took the train for the very first time. I did not even know the fundamentals of taking a train. But, that day I had no choice except to take the train because I had to register for my classes. I had no idea if I was going to be lost for the very first time in my life. That morning was the beginning of what was going to be a long and a miserable day.
I started the day with a bad feeling and I was a little bit scared because I had no idea what it was like to take the train. I asked my uncle Cantave for information about taking the train. He told me to go to the train station and buy a ticket to Elizabeth. Little I knew that taking the train would be a lot more difficult than just that for me.
So, I did exactly what my uncle Cantave told me to do. I went to the train station and bought a ticket. The man who was selling the tickets gave me three tickets, I thought about it for a minute. I went out in front of the train stop with no clue of why I had three tickets, especially when I asked for a one-way ticket. The train arrived. I thought there would be someone standing at the doors to check the tickets, but there was nobody. At that time, I was looking very confused; even though, I did not want to look like I as slow-witted. I went inside the train and sat down, and everyone was relaxed except for me; I was in for a ride.
After a while, I saw a man walking around checking the tickets. He came to me and asked me for my ticket. I did not know which ticket to give him, so I gave him all three. He told me this train was going to Long Branch. He also told me that I had to take another train, but I had no clue of which train to take. As soon as our train arrived at Long Branch, I got up and walked out with no idea what I was going to do next.
I had to wait at Long Branch for another train. When the next train arrived, I approached to one of the workers and asked her how to get to Elizabeth. She told me “take the train to South Amboy and wait there for the following train to Elizabeth.” I did exactly that, but when I got to South Amboy, I had to wait about forty-five minutes for the train. That was when I understood why I had the three tickets. I finally got to Elizabeth after two long hours. It took me two hours to get to school. Whereas, if I had been driving, it would only have been thirty-five minutes from Asbury Park to Elizabeth.
On my way back home, I thought things were going to be easier, but that was just my imagination. Remember, I did not want to look obtuse in the whole situation, well I did. Instead of taking a regular train back to Asbury Park, I took a local train to Trenton, which was the opposite way from where I wanted to go. That was the two o’clock train and this was when things really got out of hand. As soon as I got to Trenton, I went inside the train station and asked at what time the next train to Asbury Park would arrive. I was told there were not any trains scheduled to go to Asbury Park that day. At that time, I realized that I was lost. The first thing that went through my mind was if I had enough money to get back home. Luckily, I had just enough, but there was not any train. I stayed at the station for more than five hours wondering how I was going to get home.
After a long miserable day, I was still at Trenton train station starving, thirsty, and with just enough money to get back home. I had only one option and that was to take the 7:30 p.m. train to Newark, and I did. From there I took another train to Long Branch and then to Asbury Park. I had to wait thirty more minutes for the train from Long Brach back to home. When I got home, it was already ten o’clock pm. The day was finally over.
I will never forget that day. The first time I took the train, and it turned out badly. That was the worst day of my life, even though I have had bad experiences; none of them was like this one. I realized that the reason why I got lost was that I did not ask any questions. I remember my grandmother used to tell me that anything you do not know is greater than you are. I suggest you ask questions anytime you do not know something or if you need information.