The Platform Powerwalker

Most people have a reason for riding the trains. Some are commuting to work or school, others are traveling to a baseball game or are returning from visiting friends. But every so often a commuter is so out of place you can’t figure out exactly what they are doing.

Cutie (as I will affectionately call her) and I were making our way back from a trip to the North Bay. It was getting late, and we had gotten caught up in the evening commute. Tired of being packed in the train car like sardines, Cutie suggested we transfer at San Leandro station just to get out of the train, and I happily agreed. The wait was about ten minutes, so we decided to hang out toward the end of the platform to talk and watch the tired city of San Leandro begin to close down for the evening.

It was then that Cutie pointed out the Platform Powerwalker. Across the tracks, a middle-aged woman in business attire was purposefully marching from one end of the opposite platform to the other. The BART platforms are built to accommodate ten-car trains, and it took the woman a while to walk all the way down to the end. She determinedly made the trek, pacing as fast as she could walk. I tell you, the lady was on a mission.

She reached the end of the elevated platform, walked directly to the edge, and peered over the railing. She spent a minute or two looking over the edge before straightening up, turning on her heel, and again marching quickly toward the end of the platform from which she came.

Cutie and I watched the woman as she marched to the far end, once again taking a moment to peer over the platform edge upon her arrival.

We watched in awe as she trekked back and forth, back and forth, each time looking over the edge of the platform as if something new might have appeared on the ground below.

Sadly, our train arrived before we could determine what the lady was doing.

But still, as our train departed the station, the Platform Powerwalker again turned on her heel, and began making her trek, nobly marching back up the platform in the pursuit of...

Something. Not sure exactly what.