Spiders Are Scary

True story: I was on the T this morning riding into work, and as we were nearing Park Street, waiting for the train ahead of us to move so we could enter the station, the driver started to get all antsy. Then all of a sudden, in one of those baby-ish/wimpy/annoying tones, she screamed out, “Spider!” and actually got out of her seat. Of course, this meant she had taken her foot off the break pedal, so we started to move backwards. She grabbed her copy of the Metro, ripped it in half, squashed the spider in one fell swoop — while at the same time making a sound of “Oh, thank God I killed that spider before it ate me" — and flung the paper across her compartment, as far away from where she was sitting as was possible. Then she sat back down, slammed her foot on the break — thus shifting the momentum of the train and causing those of us standing to jut forward — and pulled into Park Street.

Let’s hear it for the T drivers: Ready for anything — except spiders.