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Finally cracked the puzzle of getting a seat on the 7:15 express after 3 months of trial and error
So I ride the 7:15 express train into the city every morning from the Maplewood station, and for the first three months I kept ending up standing the whole 40 minute ride pressed against strangers. I tried everything, getting there earlier, sprinting when the doors opened, even standing near the back thinking it would be less crowded. Nothing worked until a guy named Ray who I see every day finally let me in on the trick. He said the third car from the front is always the last one to fill up because everyone crowds the first two cars near the stairs. I started walking down to the third car last Tuesday and got an actual window seat two days in a row. It sounds so obvious now but I never thought to just count the cars. Now I get to actually read on my commute instead of holding onto the pole for dear life. Anyone else figure out a spot on their line that nobody seems to use?
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victor_ward1mo ago
Man, this takes me back. I had almost the same thing happen on the L train years ago, except my trick was the opposite, I started getting on at the very last car instead of fighting my way to the front. Everybody piles into the first car because it dumps you right by the exit at the downtown stop, but the last car was half empty most mornings. Took me way longer than three months to figure that out, so don't feel bad about it. The other thing that helped was just paying attention to which doors open where, since some cars end up right in front of a bench or a coffee stand and those get mobbed first. Now I'm curious how long Ray sat on that secret before he finally told you, because I'd be pretty annoyed if my seat buddy kept it to himself for that long.
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