There are 82 steps in the series of stairs that lead from the train platform to the street at South Station. Climbing them is my morning workout, mainly because I can't get to the escalator, clogged as it is with people still wearing their puffy winter coats well into March. I don't mind the stairs, because I like to keep moving, but I sometimes feel winded at the very top, and I have to wonder, "Am I really out of shape?"
In the morning, waiting for the train at Davis, I try to position myself in an open area where there aren't too many people. This is my strategy for getting a seat. Getting a seat is not guaranteed, even though the train originates only one stop away. I usually stand on a narrow strip of the platform, because fewer people squeeze in there. This puts me toward the middle-rear of the train.
Lately I have noticed, when the train is gliding into Davis, that the first car often has many free seats. One day, I tried to stand toward the front end. It worked pretty well, because I got a seat, and when we got to South Station, I was so far from the escalator that the crowd had cleared by the time I got there. That day, I rode the escalator. It's striking what can make one happy at 8:16 in the morning.
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