Friday, June 20, 2014

How I lost my grandson on the metro





Even if you don't know French, you can probably figure out what this sign is saying. Yes, it's warning metro passengers not to try and board after the signal sounds, because they risk injuring themselves badly.  It would also have helped if Aidan had a grandmother who had thought to warn him. 

Imagine then, boarding the metro as the signal sounds, and looking out to see the doors closing on your grandson! "Don't force it! Don't force it!," I shout, just as Aidan (fortunately) gives up his quest and steps back onto the platform.  "We'll come back for you!"

The metro train pulls away, and we see Aidan's form get smaller and smaller as we enter the tunnel.  (What kind of grandmother am I to let that happen?) Kevin, Joseph, and I exit at the next station.  "We have to go back," I insist. "I told him we'd go back and get him!"

Kevin says that Aidan didn't hear me.  I'm not completely worried, because Aidan is, after all, an intelligent young man, plus he has the Citymapper app on his iPhone, and he's been plotting our way around the city all day. Still, it's more than a little disconcerting. While Kevin and I argue about whether Aidan heard me, Joseph remains calm and offers the most sensible suggestion of all: "Why don't we wait and see if he got on the next train? Then, if he doesn't show up, we can go back for him."  (We also try our phones, but they don't work underground.)

We wait. The train arrives.  No Aidan.  We decide to go back. Rattled, I jump on the next train back, and Kevin and Joseph follow.  Then, we realize we're on the metro line that splits into two, and you have to be sure you're getting on the correct car. At the next station, we realize we're on the wrong train!  We exit, and clamber onto the right train a couple of minutes later.

When we reach the station where we left Aidan, he is nowhere to be found.  We decide to go back to the apartment, our destination, because we know Aidan can find his way back there.

We take the long ride back to Jules Joffrin station. As we walk down the street toward our apartment, whom do we see coming toward us?  It's Aidan!  He beat us home, saw we weren't there, and headed for the metro to greet us.

Again, all's well that ends well. That event happened on  the second day of Aidan's and Joseph's visit.  And none of us will try and force the doors open on the metro again! We also have a new rule:  If we get separated on the metro, we will get off at the next station and wait till we can be reunited.

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