Tell me how am I supposed to leave with no stairs…

Recently, getting to work has become a bit of a hassle – and with that, I don’t mean the struggle to get out of bed. No no, it is much more complex than that. I live in a small town. This small town is crossed by a railroad track. Note the singular here – it is one track that divides for the length of the station in my small town into two tracks, so trains can pass by each other. Until recently (until before the getting to work has become difficult, that is), there was only one platform. To get to the track further away (let’s call it Track 2), you had to cross Track 1. Which of course causes mortal peril, considering that in this rural area, high speed trains whizz by at lightning speed every second minute (note the sarcasm here).

So someone decided to throw some otherwise much needed taxpayers’ money at this and decided to build a second platform on the far side of Track 2, so both tracks can only be reached from the outer sides. As now crossing Track 1 does not only cause mortal peril, but is also strictly forbidden, it was decided to build an underpass. Platform 2 is ready. So is the underpass. Only they forgot the stairs. I kid you not. What we have now is sort of a half pipe underneath the two tracks.

What does that have to do with my coming late to work, you ask? Well – to get to Track 2 you have to walk a bit further to the railway crossing to get to Platform 2 other side. Remember that I mentioned earlier that the trains in different directions pass by each other in the station in my small town? So what happens every once in a while is that if you want to cross the railway crossing, the gates are down. The train to Track 1 passes in one direction. But then – the gates don’t open. They stay closed for long minutes until the train on Track 2, the one you were supposed to catch, has left the station as well. So you’re standing behind the closed railroad crossing gates and watch your train pass you by. So – you see why getting to work currently doesn’t exactly improve my mood in the morning.