Blind Date

Andrea Pohlmann-Jochheim

Six o‘ clock in the morning. I am walking along the Rhine. The pleasure boats are still safely tied to the river bank. Only the garbage men are at work – preparing the town for another busy day. While passing the Rhenania Hall, I remember that fantastic opening of an exhibition with an artist dancing with filthy fish and I instinctively pinch my nostrils together in order to avoid the horrible stench. I am on my way to a magic place – the Cologne railway station and I am in a bit of a hurry. I need to catch my train due north for a mysterious blind date in London.

Looking up through the fresh green leaves of a chestnut tree I get a first glance of the majestic Cologne Cathedral, of the spectacular architecture of the museum and the freshly renovated facade of Cologne Central Station. 100 Million Euro were spent on this "face-lift": new roofs, extended tracks, glamorous shops, bistros and restaurants.

I glance at my watch. Twenty-five to... There really is not much time left.

High Expectations! A little bit excited, too! What a day!

The steel and glass construction: safety, service, arrival and departure, meeting point! The hub of modern commuter life.

There are the typical noises: announcements all over the place. I feel it, hear it, smell it! However, something is different today! I don’t have the time to think about it now, though. I have to catch my train. I hurry, run up the stairs to the platform. Whew - just seven minutes left before the train is due to depart.

People passing, seconds passing – through the cleaned glass roof the sun touches my face. I stop for a while, eyes closed.

"Attention all passengers! All passengers, your attention please! Due to a serious technical problem no trains will be able to arrive in or depart from Cologne Central Station in the immediate future. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please refer to the digital notice boards and the loudspeaker announcements for further information. Let me repeat: Attention all passengers! All passengers ..."

Oh no! Could this have been caused by the new virus they mentioned on the radio this morning? The one with the attractive subject line : "ILOVEYOU"?
What to do right now?
Okay! Let’s have a look if there are any new message on the display of my mobile phone. No such luck. Too bad!
I wonder where on my way from here to London, a man awaits me, someone as excited as I am.
Waiting for....

All passengers, your attention please: all people travelling to Hamburg are instructed to immediately move to the station Deutz Tief. There is a train leaving in about twenty minutes. Please all passengers to Hamburg move to........

There is some movement on the platform, more and more men and women are on their way to the stairs. I just follow them, jump into a taxi, drive just to the other side of the Rhine, passing that majestic Hyatt Hotel. I enter the station and the train which is supposed to take me to London. There are still a lot of people sitting in the train, people coming from different parts of Germany. I just drop my suitcase in the rack. I heave a sigh of relief, when I notice that the train slowly departs from the station. Curious! This train usually goes from Central Station. I have seen it – it looks different from the other ones – more elegant – somehow lighter.

A blond skinny man passes my seat and brushes my knee. He seems to be overly nervous. Some drops of sweat are trickling down his forehead from under his cap, which he has put on backwards, like skateboarders wear them. However, skateboarders are in their teens and - not in their thirties!

I lean back and enjoy the luxury of the METROPOLITAN Train: Cologne-Hamburg in three and a half hours! Gosh, you hardly notice the movement. MET 1031. What a bridge – wonder who designed it! Departure: 6:19, Arrival 9:49. Suddenly the outskirts of Cologne. Telephone on board, space for wheelchairs. That must be the new industrial area. Runs Mo - Fr, not 3. Oct – oh yes, the new national holiday – "Reunification" or something. There must be some air conditioning in here, it seems even colder than outside! 1 adult without BahnCard in the 2nd class: 180,00 DM – and worth every penny – the interior decoration is nicer than in some people’s sitting rooms. Handy/quiet zones, what they really mean is "mobile phones" – the German word for that is "handy" – well they can be! How can I be tired and nervous at the same time?

Green fields are visible through the windows. A short stop at Düsseldorf main station. The train is fifty-five minutes too late. Still no new note on my mobile phone. Where did the blond man go?
"Excuse me, is this place occupied?", asks a young and pretty blonde. Something is wrong with her make-up. Maybe the wind or tears? She looks along the corridor, in the exact direction that young man went twenty minutes ago and starts to talk to herself: "What a sad perverted idiot with his stupid tricks. Why did he do that to me. I’m not that kind of girl: blond and stupid. I just didn’t want him to come near me. I hate people who hurt others on purpose trying to be clever. Why did I ever talk to him.."
"Are you talking about the tall young man with the cap ?" I ask the girl.
"Yes", she answers, "that disgusting guy, who is only interested in making an interesting appearance, who tries to be attractive, sexy, an excellent actor or whatever. He wants to be a permanent winner. I’m so annoyed and.."
"We will arrive in Essen in a few minutes, passengers bound for.."
"Oh shit, I have to leave. Please excuse my anger. I’m just so upset about that guy.
Have a nice trip, anyway. Good bye!"
Two and a half more hours to Hamburg....
Any news???
I LOVE YOU!
Wow! I knew he would come in contact with me. Isn’t it lovely, isn’t it great to have a mobile phone? Extremely "handy". No limitations, available wherever you are. If I knew his number I would be able to find out if he is in the train. Well I might have to ring 50 times, before I was in the right car to see him pick up the phone – but still!
Maybe he tries to send me a message again..
Maybe I can find him..
Maybe that young skinny blond guy is my blind date? Oh, oh!

Maybe I could have a cup of tea in the dining car and find out what’s going on. I find my way to the dining car which looks even more elegant than the rest of the train. That tall guy is not exactly good-looking – but he has something – a quelque chose – about him. Smooth skin, a perfectly trained body! I wonder if he works out a lot. In any case he should shave that beard off! I am still at the entrance of the dining car as if waiting to be seated. Perhaps he works as a journalist and is writing a report concerning blind dates? I must be completely crazy to take part in such an adventure. To sit on a train to London waiting for a mail message from someone from somewhere ....... "sitting in a railway station, waiting for my destination"....... Ahh, Simon and Garfunkel - Homeward Bound. Oh yes, there are several more songs concerning trains and such things. There was Albert Hammond, who sang "I’m a train", and Glenn Miller with "Chattanooga choo choo" and that German singer Christian Anders’ "train to nowhere".
And what could be my way?

Oops.. I have been looking at that tall guy for an eternity. I hope he has not noticed my stare! Hope he does not feel awkward.
"Excuse me, Mrs., would you please stop looking at me or is there anything wrong with me"?
"Maybe! Are you the fellow, who acts in a very disrespectful fashion toward young female passengers on this train?" I am sitting down and only afterwards realize that I should have asked first.
"Oh, please, let me explain that stupid situation."



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