Just getting there is half the battle...

Commuting in the DC area is part science, art, war, and luck. Getting from home to office (and daycare) without being late or crushed in the process takes precision, creativity, aggression, and voodoo, in varying amounts.
As I've described here before, my commute to daycare and work involves a bus, Ergo carrier, 6ish blocks of power walking (plus a sprint down our street with Eli on my back) and two trains. Eli usually enjoys riding the bus and cheers for me to "go!go!go!" on our sprint to the bus stop and then announcing everything we pass along the way to daycare. Usually my door-to-desk time is just over an hour, which isn't too bad. Then there are those days when the trains run late or we miss our bus or it's raining and we get soaked, or it's just plain freezing.
Yesterday the trains were running late, so after freezing on the platform for 8 minutes, I cozied up to a few dozen of my new closest sardine friends until switching trains. On the next train I was able to sit down and read my paper. Meanwhile, my lunch bag teetered precariously on my lap, eventually tipping and spilling my fruit onto my seatmate's feet. First let me explain: after years of bruised and mushy bananas, I was excited to find the Banana Guard (much to Justin's chagrin), essentially a hard plastic case designed to protect bananas. Unfortunately it also looks like something rather naughty.
So my tupperware phallus spilled out onto the white Keds of the woman next to me, who tried to ignore my Metro-foul but was clearly disturbed, although I resisted the urge to explain to her that it really was a banana guard. Meanwhile, my clementine started rolling under the seats as I struggled to retrieve them without putting my head in her lap.
I now keep my lunch secured in my zippered backpack. I was quite thankful to finally make it to my desk and pour my coffee and eat my unblemished banana.
And so begins the workday...