!
Date: Sat, 10 Aug 2002 18:15:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFAList at KeithLynch.net
Subject: [WSFA] I'm definitely going to Worldcon ... I think
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
I bought my Amtrak tickets to San Jose today. I made a reservation
by phone. I would have used the net, except that Amtrak's website
required Javascript, which my browser doesn't support. This afternoon
I took Metro to Union Station in DC, and got my tickets on one of the
automated machines, using my ATM card.
I made sure I was there exactly two weeks before my train leaves, so I
could watch the same train boarding. Sure enough, as people told me on
the net, they were only checking tickets, not asking for picture ID.
If I am stopped for not having "papers please" when I attempt to board
at Union Station in two weeks, I will take Metro to Rockville, and
attempt to board the same Amtrak train there. And if I am stopped
again, or if I can't reach Rockville in time (the timing will be
tight), I will return to downtown DC, and try taking Greyhound.
I am leaving a day of slack in the schedule. Ideally, I will arrive
in San Jose on Tuesday evening. That will give me a night to recover
from the trip without missing Wednesday night's parties. I hope I
can find a cheap hotel or motel for the purpose. I don't need teak,
rosewood, brass, chandeliers, color TV, or even a private bathroom.
I just want a hot shower, a shave, about twelve hours sleep, and
another hot shower. Then I'll be ready to face the World(con).
I have to change trains in Chicago and Los Angeles. I'm not sure
what happens if they check ID there, but not before. My hope is I
can outstubborn them. As was possible with the airlines before last
September. For instance when I flew to the San Antonio Worldcon
in 1997.
At Union Station while waiting for the train to board so I could
watch, I picked up a newspaper someone had left on their seat. The
Washington Post. I glanced at the front page to make sure it was
today's.
I was bemused to see that it was tomorrow's.
I wondered if I had fallen into an episode of "Early Edition" (which
was about a man who gets tomorrow's paper, and spends all day trying
to prevent disasters reported in it). Or, more mundanely, if I had
somehow gotten confused and today really was Sunday the 11th. I hoped
not, since I had an event on Saturday evening I didn't want to miss.
I wasn't *completely* certain it was Saturday until I got home, and
logged into Panix, which assured me it was still Saturday. I trust
Panix.
How fragile is one's grip on reality? If everyone got together and
pretended it was tomorrow, how much would you argue before you decided
you were confused? If everyone got together and pretended there was
no such place as, say, Delaware, how much would it take to convince
you that you were mistaken and they were right?
More to the point of this message, if everyone started treating
something you've always thought of as horribly wrong as being
perfectly ok, would you go along with it? Because that's how I've
always felt about any requirement to carry government-issued travel
papers while traveling within my own country. I thought almost
everyone else felt the same. I feel like I've stepped into an evil
parallel universe. Perhaps the one in which Spock has a beard. I
don't know.
Tomorrow's paper? It doesn't seem to report any events that haven't
happened yet. Too bad. If I couldn't prevent them, I could at least
get really good pictures, and sell them to other newspapers.
--
Keith F. Lynch - kfl at keithlynch.net - http://keithlynch.net/
I always welcome replies to my e-mail, postings, and web pages, but
unsolicited bulk e-mail (spam) is not acceptable. Please do not send me
HTML, "rich text," or attachments, as all such email is discarded unread.