Nobody does it better

That's right. I dare to say it. Nobody's better than me at getting lost. Why, take for example my first day at my new job.

I was supposed to be at work at 0900 and actually got up early before my alarm clock went off. I was so anxious that I just couldn't stay in bed any longer. I made my way to the train station in plenty of time and looked up at the board to check my destination. Stupid, stupid me! The train I had planned to catch went to DH Moerwijk, not DH Mariahoeve, as I had thought (mistake one). So I ended up having to switch trains to catch a ride to DH Central, from where I hoped to catch another train to Mariahoeve. Of course, I immediately had another problem. Because of my mix-up, a ride that I had thought would cost only about 10 minutes was already taking longer than 30. And to make matters worse, I discovered that, due to a 5-minute delay of the trains, I had just missed my connection and would now have to wait for another half hour before the next came. I ran upstairs to check to see if the trams would ride any sooner, but found out it only left 3 minutes before the next train. Gamboling that a train would be faster than a tram, I decided to wait for the train (mistake two). I called my boss to let him know that the trains were running late and I didn't think I would be able to make it to work before 0930. No problem there, at least. I arrived in Mariahoeve and went outside to find my tram. The stop was nowhere to be found. I went back inside to ask for directions and, armed with them, went back outside to find my ride.

Wouldn't you know it, the tram was coming as I rounded the corner, and I sprinted for it, made it just in time, and hopped on board. The tram started moving and I sat down to wait for my stop. A few stops later, I got the sinking feeling that I was headed in the wrong direction. "Pardon me," I said to the man sitting behind me, "but is this tram travelling toward Den Haag Central Station?" "Yes it is," he replied. Noooooooooo! I hopped off at the next stop and headed up the street to try to catch the same tram running in the opposite direction. Again, fate was against me, and I could see the tram approaching in the distance. I broke out into another awkward sprint, my book bag banging mercilessly against my back in what I thought was a hopeless attempt to nab the tram before it left me behind. Dashing across the street and somehow managing to avoid angry car drivers, I caught my tram and hopped on board.

I sat as patiently as I could in my seat, but couldn't help from fidgeting as I constantly checked my progress against time. It was nearly 0930 and my stop was still somewhere off in the distance. A few minutes later I arrived at my stop, and looked around as I got off, attempting to get my bearing. Failing to recognize anything (I had been dropped off once before at the building when I first came for my interview), I asked an old lady whom I guessed would know the area fairly well.

"Could you please tell me where the Veurse Achterweg is?" I asked her hopefully. Peering at my paper she turned and answered me, her words sending chills through my spine. "But you're no where near there. You're on the wrong side of the Vliet!" she said, as I racked my brain in an attempt to figure out what, where, or who the Vliet might be. "You should always ask the driver when you get on," she chided me. "If you ask him, he will be able to warn you if you are on the wrong tram." She continued to chastise me in my errant ways as I thanked her profusely and ran away to the safety of a map and the nearest tram stop.

I called my boss again. "I think I'm utterly lost," I told him. And after a few minutes of discussing what street I was on and the fact that I seemed nowhere near any landmarks he could use to help figure out where I was, I found myself on the map. How scanny. I had spent the last few minutes trying to figure out where I was, and the whole time there was a giant red arrow pointing right at me! And moments later, I found the street where my new company was supposed to be. It didn't seem too far away… So, armed with a newfound confidence and the promise that my boss would call me back if he found out any helpful information, I headed off into the wilds of Leidschendam.

About 10 minutes later I decided to stop and check my progress. For all I knew, I may have been going in the wrong direction again. I asked a kindly old man if he knew where my street was, and he pointed to the street right in front of us and said, "I believe that's the one you're looking for." He pointed me in the general direction of a large office building he knew of, and less than 5 minutes later I finally arrived at work. Want to guess what time it was? 1000.

The ride home? Well, you'd think I'd do better, right? But I decided to try to catch a bus instead, as I could ride one all the way back to Delft instead of having to switch trains at 3 different stations. But the street I thought was the right place, of course, wasn't, and I ended up trying to take a different route back to the tram stop, winding my way through what seemed like every back street in Leidschendam. A tram was just pulling away as I rounded a street corner, and I had to sit and wait for another half hour for the next one. Enough time to remember the rest of my route home, right? WRONG. I actually managed to get off at the right tram stop to catch a train from Mariahoeve, but I walked in the wrong direction (argh!) before figuring out where the station lay. So of course I missed my train by a few minutes, which threw off my entire ride home by another half an hour or so.

Otherwise, the day was good. I didn't get into any trouble at all from work. In fact, my manager was so nice as to try to help me find alternate public transportation routes to work! And I managed without too much difficulty to find my way the next day. And only had to suffer being asked if I made my way without problems a few times. :)

Thus, I do crown myself the master of misplacement! C'mon, you really think you can compete with me?