Big sigh
To quote this British guy I talked to at the station,"The NS is one of my bloody pet hates!!"I hate NS.
I freaking hate NS.
They promised the moon to boost the efficiency and quality of their train services when they raised the price of train tickets. Have they kept the promise?? NOOOOOO!!
I am freaking pissed now because I couldn't make it to a job interview today as the Rotterdam Centraal station suddenly shut down for like an hour this morning. According to the train planner, I should get the train at 11.30am so I could arrive 15 minutes earlier to prepare myself for the interview. But as being such a paranoid person, I arrived at the train station at 11am instead. My plan was to arrive even earlier and grab a quick coffee to calm my nerve. I could already smell trouble once I arrived at the R'dam station, as all the trains are having 20- to 40-minute delay.
I grabbed the train ticket, went up to the platform, and heard the announcement that no train was arriving or departing due to some technical problems. %#@#&!#%#!@?!!!!!! I patiently waited and waited, and was hoping against hope that my lucky bamboo could make miracles happen. But when it was 11.30am and I was still stuck on the platform with many other frustrated passengers, I knew that my luck was out. I felt like I had ants in my pants. If I couldn't get a train at 11.30am, I could never make it to the interview on time.
I called my boyfriend and asked desperately for other means of transportation. I could take a bus which would still make me 45-minute late for the interview. I could take a cab that would cost me a mint and may still be late as cab drivers in R'dam are not that familiar with the road in other cities. My man could come drive me there but I would still be late as he needed like an hour to drive from his work to R'dam station. I ran out of options, so I had to call and rearrange the interview.
The interview is rearranged, but I am still feeling so very frustrated. But hell, shxt happens and life moves on!!
posted by Miss Bad Penny at
13:01
3 comment(s):
Oh I hate the NS! But if the interview was in Holland, they should understand completely why you could not make it since this was sadly not too odd. :-)
I have so many horror stories from the NS, but my favorite was when it took me over 2 hours to go from Leiden to Hoofdorp (15 minutes usually). Something happened between Hoofddorp and Schipol and the trains were not going on the line from Leiden so (after over 1/2 hour of trying to find a way to work) I had to take a train to Amsterdam Centraal via Harlem, and then I got off the train and they told me I could not go direct back to Schipol, but had to go via Duivendrecht. But as I found the train to Duivendrecht they then anounced that trains were going to Schipol. So I ran back to the train to Schipol and then had to take a bus from Schipol to Hoofddrop. I left the house at 7:45 and arrived at work after 10:00. I told my boss next time I was just going back home and they could charge the NS for my day!
Good luck in the interview when you do get there!!!
By
Laura, at
2:33 PM, March 14, 2006
Holy hell I would be beside myself with fury if that happened to me. I'm a student, depend on my OV-card and never in my life have I been late for something important because of NS, but I can see how you hate them now.
I sincerely hope you get this job, I'm sure the people there will understand that you did everything to be in time. Good luck!
By
Lisa, at
10:10 AM, March 15, 2006
EXACTLY!! NS made me miss an important meeting.
I have been having such a great tolerance of the NS delays, but NS just keep pushing it. How tolerant have I been?? I used to travel from Enschede to Dordrecht to visit my man once 2 weeks. And I never arrived Dordrecht the same time as suggested by the train planner, believe it or not, but I still let it go and acted sitting duck on the train.
Maybe I was very prepared for a delay back then, as it was afterall a long ass 3-hour trip with the infamous NS, you know. But yesterday?? Just a 30-minute ride, for crying out loud (but still can't beat ms. mama's record)!!
By
Miss Bad Penny, at
10:25 AM, March 15, 2006
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