Standing Idly By

Tuesday Morning

4am: Alarm Rings
4:10: Arise from slumber and throw on clothes
4:25: Pack what remains including some snacks
4:30: Final check for important things
4:35: Leave apartment
4:55: Arrive at train station (Back Bay). Stop at ATM.
5am:
Notice some slow moving folks collecting news papers and other items, presumably to make more comfortable sleeping arrangements
5:01:
Notice cops standing about
Try to enter train station
Fail
Ask the Transit Police where the open door is
Police feign ignorance (not generally hard to believe)
More emphatically explain that I have a 5:20 train to catch and that it mustbe open
They tell me that "these people will see you go in and they'll want to go in."
Uh, ok, so maybe they're not wearing pin stripes (thinks she), but what gives? (A thought, not a statement)
"We don't want them here."
Oh right, that. All the homeless people giving you trouble at 5am (A look, not a statement)
"Just wait a minute, ma'am, the train station will open. We just need to clear these people out."
In a sleepy haze (2 hours of sleep at this point), I step casually out of sight behind a pillar.

And then I realize what I'm doing: Standing idly by.

5:05: Cops hold the door open for me.
5:20: Board train
7am: Wake up. Ask self: where was your protest? Draft letter to Fox News about their irresponsible report on Monday night regarding fuel conservation. Feel better about being idle.

I'll post the letter after I'm clear on whether they're going to use it. They won't broadcast these things if they're already published, and blogs count.