January 20, 2006

• 
  

  This
  morning I got to the station and was told there was no train.  There was a broken signal from Amtrak that
  made the all lines from Newark division stopped.  I hop on a bus to get to work.  The bus went around town and stopped at every
  corner.  The trip usually took 45 minutes
  train ride.  Today the bus ride took me 2
  hours to get to my office.
  

  As I sat
  on the bus I thought of Dagny Taggart. 
  What this Chief of Operation would do when more than half of the numbers
  of trains were not running during peak hours due to signal.  In the book she wanted to send men with a
  lantern at every switches at every interlocking.  All powerful female figures in my company
  were disappeared since the female President of the train company retired a few
  years ago.  I did not see any powerful
  female executives scurrying back and forth on the platforms.
  

  Taking
  the bus to work is an entirely different experience.  The bus riders are totally different class
  with the train riders.  I am a quiet
  person.  When people talked I just quietly
  observed.  The bus was very crowded.  Regular bus riders eyed us train riders with
  a questioning look.  I could not even lean against the headrest because someone was holding to it.  My neck was painful for no apparent reason.  The
  bus jerked and rolled.  I felt
  queasy. 
  

  I was lucky
  that I dressed in pants and soft boots.  I
  could not imagine that I walked a long way and carried with me this gym bag in
  high heels and short skirt in this cold weather.  Getting of the bus I walked for about 15
  minutes from Broad Street to my office through the Gate Way. 
  Early in the morning, the Gate Way already buzzed with many
  vendors.  Look like there was a special
  program to bring vendors in for a fair. 
  I passed a stand with all kinds of nuts and another stand with all artistic
  hand made jewelry.  The bag I have my gym
  clothes weighed so much on my shoulder made me think of an old line of
  Vietnamese poetry.  “Ngoài cặp sách trần
  ai xem cũng nhẹ.”  Without my bag the
  whole world seems very light.
  

  Early
  today, as I dressed for work, an old song crept into my mind.  But when I sat on the bus I could
  not remember the verses to write it down. 
  I was searching in my mind for a long time but could not recall.  I walked through the Gate Way the song actually came back.
  

  As I said
  before, I was so familiar to sad song that they calm me down more than make me
  sad.  I walked through the Gate Way with the song followed my every
  steps.
  

  Một mai
  xa nhau xin nhớ cho nhau nụ cười.  Trong
  cuộc t́nh này, hẹn ḥ nhau đến kiếp mai. 
  Đừng hận nhau nữa, lời nào em khóc cho người.  T́nh đă mù trong sương khói theo cơn gió lùa
  tả tơi…

  Some days, when we depart, please give each other a smile.  This love, we promise till our next life.  Do not hold anger longer, what words I will cry for you.  Love is disappearing in the fog, with the wind scatters…

  
  

  • 9:46 pm
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