Residual Delays

This was one of those mornings on Metro. Not the worst, certainly not the worst. But a lurching, stop-start, running-late kind of morning.

Often when this happens the explanation is "we are experiencing residual delays due to an earlier incident." So I've been swirling that phrase around in my mind this morning. Residual delays. Residual. Delays.

In this case residual means what is left after the larger part is gone, of course, but there is another definition of residual, one used in the entertainment industry — payments for past achievements.

What are the residuals of riding Metro? It's greener and healthier — I drive less and walk more — those two come immediately to mind.

But aren't there delayed residuals, too? Metro gives me time to write and read and think. A friend of mine, a poet, has completed a book's worth of verse in her last few years on the Red Line. I write in my journal, rough out essay ideas, edit articles.

Though it often tries my spirit, there is no doubt that Metro nurtures my mind. Not shabby for a delayed residual.