We Know.

There was a man behind me in line this morning who was successfully able to elicit a similar response from me and the two people in front of me in line at that point. That response was,"WE KNOW." Which I followed up under my breath with a, "Good lord," and the lady who had literally 3 seconds before become the first person in line (aka the caller) extended to, "We know how it works." I was partially highly amused at the situation and partially legitimately annoyed by the man.

This situation came about because the line of people this morning was extra long, and the line of cars was long as well. The majority of the drivers were going to the Pentagon/Crystal City area, and it seemed most of the riders were not. One guy asked me if I knew where all of the cars were going, and I told him they were all going to the Pentagon. He looked at the line of riders in front of us, I'd say about 12-15 deep. Then took a deep breath and said, "Guess I'll go to the Pentagon!" He smiled as he said it, and just kind of shrugged it off as part of the system. Every few minutes one or two others would leave the middle of the line to get into a car, with a look of resignation on their face.

I finally neared the front of the line, with three people including the caller in front of me. This whole time I'd been in line, the line of cars was wrapping around the parking lot. The caller was all the way at the end of the line of cars so that he could call them out as they arrived. The next person in line was all the way back with us. Not the most efficient way I've seen it done, usually the second person will go kind of halfway, so as to relay the message. (Often reminds me of relay drills at softball practice for any former teammates reading this.)

Nobody played the relay today, but luckily the caller had a loud, strong voice (someone in line suggested it must be his Navy training.) So we could all hear him fairly well, even with how far away he was. Except for that man. Who kept saying, "What?! What did he say?!" before we had a chance to relay the message to the rest of the line behind us. It got to the point where all three of us towards the front of the line would repeat the message from the caller, directed at the man.

The caller found a car going to his destination and therefore got into the car and yelled, "New caller." When the caller gets in a car, the next person in line becomes the caller. Again, a simple rule of slugging that appeals to the common sense as well. The lady in the front of the line was about to move towards the line of cars to become the caller, when the man behind us yelled, "Someone new needs to go call the cars!!" with a major stress on the word 'someone.'

This was when we the three of us ahead of him turned around like, are you kidding me man? Give it half a second, we're all aware of how the system works, thanks. And the man in front of me was someone I recognized as being a stickler and enforcer of the slugging rules (Here on known as Stickler), as well as voicing his opinion about others following them. So I was definitely not surprised when I wasn't the only one who said, "We know" to the man in response. I was glad that others shared my sentiment to let the impatient, demanding man know that we have all slugged before and are not just going to stand there doing nothing.

Shortly after I became the caller, and still no one stepped out to relay, even though I had to walk back and forth to yell the car's destination since I was so far away that there were cars in between me and the rest of the slug line. It was very frustrating and by the time there was finally a car for my destination I had to settle for 5 blocks away. (Yes, I got there almost exactly at 7:30 like an idiot and waited 20 minutes for a car since there were so many people in front of me and only a couple of cars came through for my destination.) I also happened to get in with Christian Music Sing-Alonger, and Shortly after I became the caller, and still no one stepped out to relay, even though I had to walk back and forth to yell the car's destination since I was so far away that there were cars in between me and the rest of the slug line. It was very frustrating and by the time there was finally a car for my destination I had to settle for 5 blocks away. (Yes, I got there almost exactly at 7:30 like an idiot and waited 20 minutes for a car since there were so many people in front of me and only a couple of cars came through for my destination.) I also happened to get in with Christian Music Sing-Alonger, and traffic was awful due to an accident on 395. Definitely not one of the best mornings of slugging, but I was entertained by the reaction fellow sluggers had to the impatient rider when everyone else had to wait this morning, too.