ITALY 2006... MISS MANNERS MOMENT I

[This blog is dedicated to Lotus, our resident expert on manners...]

THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2006

It was our third day in Rome (We'd arrived early afternoon on Tuesday, April 4). HotFudge had wanted to explore some place (any place) just outside of Rome. You know... Just hop on the train and go... Ronin was game, but was also (as usual) highly suspicious and petrified of getting lost in a foreign country where we don't speak the language. [I've gotta hand it to HotFudge, though. She is definitely more adventurous than me in these situations. Were it not for her, Ronin would be content in his own little city...]

Luckily, the hotel we were staying at provided a shuttle service to downtown Rome. Looking at the map, I determined we could get dropped off, and then walk to the train station. It was another cold and rainy day. HotFudge was smart enough to have packed an umbrella. I, on the other hand, ended up buying one for five euro along the way. I also accidentally bought some bottled water with "gas". You know, the water with fizz. UGH!! I didn't realize my error until later that day when I took a swig of that shit. That fizz water is just nasty. Needless to say, this pissed Ronin off, but taught me the valuable lesson of making sure to ask for "no gas" when purchasing water.




We made it to the Termini train station and spent quite a bit of time trying to decide where to go. We finally settled on the town of Frascati. Buying the tickets was cool because the station had tons of these self-serve "touch-screen" machines where you just pick your destination, pay, and then get your ticket.

After purchasing the tickets, we made our way to the platforms to wait. Our train would be leaving at 1:48PM. (It was about 1:30PM.) We were suppose to watch a particular screen, and 10-15 minutes before the train's scheduled departure, the screen would show which platform to go to. It was during this time that Ronin kept going back and forth looking for the bathroom. In disgust, Ronin eventually decided to hold it because he would've had to pay. [Paying to piss (or dump). This really pisses Ronin off...]

Time passed, and we didn't see anything on the screens. It eventually passed 1:48PM and we still hadn't seen anything on the screens. It was 1:52PM when Ronin realized we were looking at the wrong screen. He found the correct screen and saw the train was leaving from platform 18. We made our way through the crowds of people and found the correct platform...


... and then saw the following sign:

400... 400 meters... 400 meters?!... 400 METERS!!! DAMMIT!! And we were already four minutes late... Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe 1 meter equals approximately 3 feet. So 400 x 3 = 1,200 feet. AAAARRRGH!!!

-------------------------------------------------------

What do you think happened at that moment?

A. Sticking together, Ronin and HotFudge picked up the pace to a fast walk to cover the 400 meters and catch the train.

B. With the intent to break the 400 meter record, Ronin took off at a dead sprint, leaving HotFudge in the dust.

C. With the intent to break the 400 meter record, HotFudge took off at a dead sprint, leaving Ronin in the dust.

D. Picking up the pace, but always keeping HotFudge in sight, Ronin ran ahead to try and catch the train.

E. Feeling it wasn't worth the effort, both Ronin and HotFudge decided to miss the train and go somewhere else.

F. None of the above.

G. All of the above.

----------------------------------------------------------

What would you do?

TO BE CONTINUED...