IRVING PARK – This past Thursday, longtime Chicago resident Cassidy Madison, 38, was seen standing at the Brown Line platform, shaking her head with disgust and pointedly pointing at her imaginary watch. “It helps to demonstrate with the trains that they’ve let you down. Once I was waiting 47 minutes for a train, and it felt good to just cross my arms and give them a scowl.” Madison relayed to our team. “Sometimes, when I’m really fed up I tap my foot angrily. While it doesn’t make the train arrive faster, it helps release some of my frustration. When the delay is really bad, pacing is soothing but that often upsets the pigeons.”
“I often feel like I’m in a toxic relationship with the CTA,” Madison told the Genius Herald Staff. “I can never depend on them, they lie constantly, and yet I can’t give them up.” She lamented, while double and triple checking her five different transit apps. “Sometimes I just feel like showing them that they can’t keep getting away with this kind of behavior. I mean…they can and they will. But I’m not going to be happy about it.”
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We asked some CTA train drivers if they’ve felt affected by Madison’s performance on the platforms. “Honestly, she just looks so disappointed in me, I feel like I’ve personally wronged her.” Franklin Singh, 61, remarked. “I’d honestly prefer her just being outright mad at me, it brings up a lot of trauma from my elementary school days.”
Unprompted, Singh then went on a metaphorical tirade about how the trains must feel, having such high expectations on them from every city resident. “These poor trains are just trying their best, and no one gives them the benefit of the doubt. Th*mas the T*nk Engine really did a number on their self esteem.”
Our staff inquired if this pushes the staff to run the trains faster. “Oh it’s not up to me. Dorval Carter just speaks into our earpieces, randomly telling us to stop and go at his will. But I’m being paid just a couple dollars more than minimum wage, I can’t afford to care too much.”
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So if you see a woman huffing and puffing with disdain on the train platform, don’t pay her any more mind than you would normally. She’s just a Chicagoan getting through the horrors of the CTA schedule in the way that makes the most sense to her. She left us with some parting wisdom as she sprinted up the station stairs. “At the end of the day, no matter how mad they make me, at least it's better than owning a car here.”
