I was on my in to work today, traveling my normal route. When I arrived at the Monroe Street subway station, I deboarded the red line train. A northbound train had also just delivered its passenger load, so there were many pedestrians in the station. I decided to forgo the initial escalator, as there was a large line of people waiting to use it. I took the stairs. At the top of the stairs, I had to again choose between a set of stairs and an escalator out to street level. This time, I chose the escalator. This particular escalator was overloaded with obese individuals. So much so, that 2/3 of my way up to the street, the escalator slowed and then stopped and then started to crawl backwards. In that quick instant, I envisioned a tumbling mass of humanity crushing me as it fell backwards. Thankfully, that did not happen. But I realized that if I was going to make it up this escalator, I was going to have to double time my steps, since the motor had now switched to reverse. Sadly, the individuals ahead of me could barely keep up with the reverse rate. So I had to dodge my way up. As I made my way to the apex of the escalator, I overheard a woman exclaim, "Damn CTA". How dare you, woman, blame the CTA for society's obese tendencies. I will not have it!
