St. Andrews was great. The train station? Not so much. It’s small. No one is there. And it’s worse at night.

My train back to Edinburgh was bound to leave at approximately 8:45 pm. I arrived and stood around on the platform until hearing the announcement that the train was delayed. It was a little chilly so I waited for the train inside a little 30 by 15 room. There were only a few people waiting: a dad and daughter, and a guy by himself, like a drifter, a loner, an outsider. Yeah, that’s it.

The time had arrived for the train to pull up. By that time, I was the only one in the room. I saw the train arrive. For some reason I didn’t think the train was for me. I waited and continued to sit in the room by myself. And then it dawned on me. “I’m in here all by myself.” I grabbed my bag, jumped up, ran outside, and just as I reached the doors, they closed. I pushed the button to open the doors. Nothing. I looked to my right and there was the daughter laughing with her dad, until she looked at me. A saddened look came across her face as the train motioned away from me, never to return. I stood there dumbfounded. What kind of idiot misses his train when it arrives when it was supposed and where it was supposed to and stops right in front of his eyeballs? This kind of idiot.

SECOND CHANCE TRAIN

The next train would be arriving about 30 minutes later. I would just have to sit tight and wait. As I waited, the intercom came alive informing me that the train had been canceled and the next one would arrive an hour later. I was regretting missing the train even more now. What an idiot!

As I waited, more people arrived. There were six of us in the room now: a young couple, who were backpackers; two older women who seemed to have partied a little harder than necessary and looked to have purchased their wardrobes at a costume store; and a young girl I had seen at the St. Andrews bus station.

I waited and waited. Finally the time neared the train’s arrival. I went outside. No way I was going to miss this one. As I paced back and forth on the platform, an old man came up to me and asked where he was supposed to be for his train. I told him he needed to be on the other platform. So maybe that’s why I missed the first train. The good Lord wanted me to help an old man make his way home. I’ll take that.

Finally, my train arrived. I got on and made it back to Edinburgh. What a finale to St. Andrews.