Wonderwags: The Joke's on Me and Dennis....Again

OFFICIAL. In the loop, with it, on the inside, in the know, down with the 411 on transpo. Whoa babies, I'm so excited, I got my OFFICIAL monthly Go-anywhere/anytime pass for the Ubahn, tram, train, trolley.

The best part is I don't have to scrounge around for money to buy a ticket anymore.....what a drag that was (in the old days). OR, I don't have to, quick!, buy a ticket before the train gets here.....and jump on at the last minute. Aaaaaaah, it's SUCH a relief. Life is good!

I always take the U9 train back to Vogelsang to get back home from downtown. Vogelsang is the stop after Arndt-Spittastrasse which is after Schawb-Babelstrasse.

The tram numbers are very well marked with bright lighted signs on the front and all along the side. There's no way you can miss which train it is....unless you aren't paying attention.

At many stops, there are also overhead lighted boards that show the train number and how long before it gets there. Very efficient. Very organized. Very easy. If you pay attention.

The other day I was waiting for the U9 at Berliner-platz. The U14 (wrong train) goes by there too, but turns left just after the stop. The U14 comes first, about a minute and a half before the U9 (right train), which goes straight out to Vogelsang (and beyond). So, yep, you guessed it, that's what I did, I got on the U14, the wrong train. I've gotten so used to the trains that I'm not paying such careful attention anymore. Well fool me once....

It's not such a big deal, really. It just feels very odd.....your mind is thinking "straight" and the train and your body are "turning left". Uh-oh.

The U9 follows right on the heels of the U14 (wrong train!) and so even if you hop right off at the stop just after it turns the corner, there's no way you can cross the big intersection and catch the U9. You just have to watch it go by from the corner across from the stop. Oh well, it's just a 10 minute wait for the next U9.

But, geez Louise! I did it AGAIN the VERY NEXT DAY. Good grief. I got on at the main station, the Haupbahnhof, this time, just following all those people right onto the U14 (wrong train). What was I thinkin'? Fool me twice....what an idiot!

So now I'm back at the Berliner-platz for the second day in a row, waiting for the next U9 after getting off the U14 around the corner, watching the U9 I should've been on go by as I wait to cross the intersection....this is starting to feel like Groundhog Day. While I'm waiting there, this is the scene....

The U14 is just pulling in (won't fool me this time!, I'm not getting on THIS one) when 3 boys, about, I don't know, say 11, come running up the ramp. Two of the boys are yelling, "Schnell, schnell, Dennis!" "Heitzen, Dennis, heitzen!" This is a totally inaccurate re-enactment, I actually have NO idea what the words surrounding "Dennis" were. But I do know, for sure, that they were yelling for Dennis to hurry, hurry before the train leaves, Dennis!

So all three boys hop on the train, the U14, and then just as the train is about to pull out, the two boys who were hurrying Dennis along, jump off, crouch down so Dennis can't see them and then start screeching with laughter as the train pulls out. Hohoho!!!! They were slapping their thighs as Dennis, stuck on the U14, is turning the corner.

I must say, Dennis was a good sport about it all. The look of astonishment on his face when he realized what was going on was priceless. He was laughing and squinching his face in 11-year-old guffawdom as the train he was on is pulling out, too late for him to jump off.

I saw Dennis across the intersection as I got on the U9 (right train!!) with the other two boys. He'll have to wait 10 minutes for the next U9. I hope he's not so anxious to catch up with his friends that he hops on the U14 (wrong train!) and turns the corner again.

As for the other two, the jokesters, they were still howling and re-telling how they tricked their friend, Dennis, as I was getting off at Vogelsang. But I think those two had better watch out. I can only imagine what Dennis was cooking up as he was waiting for the next U9.

Oh shoot! That's the one that goes around the corner!