The 411 Press
Summer Stories: Journey to UticaTuesday, August 30, 2011 By Xi Wang
Cindy Xu, a senior, with a full-size duffel bag in hand, a gigantic traveling bag on the back, tried to squeeze through narrowed doors of an Amtrak train when she escorted her brother to college in Utica this summer. Passengers widened their mouths while some of them screamed with passion, “These are not going to fit in!” Cindy was sandwiched inside the doors. It was clear that there was no way these bags could get through. A light bulb appeared in Cindy’s head, the only solution was to leave the luggage with the conductor in front of the train. By the time she could finally sit down, the train was delayed for an hour. “Just curious…What did you put in the bags?” Cindy asked her mom. Her mom declared, “Salt, pepper, sugars, and some other useful stuff you can’t get over there.” After they got out, Cindy embraced the sun and saw a Walmart right across from the building of her brother’s dorm. Her eyes almost popped out. All that drama was for nothing. On the way back to New York City, there were three babies crying in the Amtrak train, and then there were more delays. Cindy thought things could not get any worse, but later, the train engine broke down. She started her journey at 3am in the morning and came home at 12 at night. She will “definitely” look forward to going through this again when she has to help her brother to carry all that luggage back during school breaks. |