"Hey, That Light? At the End of the Tunnel? That's the C Train!"

You know that scene in the Daredevil movie where Ben Affleck, - - dressed in a Daredevil costume that looks like it was designed by Revlon - - says to the criminal he has pinned on the subway tracks...

"Hey, that light? At the end of the tunnel?
Guess what? That's not heaven...
That's the C train!"

Well, I suffered through that. The movie and being stuck on the subway tracks with the train approaching.

Today, I had a meeting at DePaul with a potential new board member. I left my office a little after 3:00 p.m. and walked over to the Red Line subway station at Lake and State Street.

As usual, the train was delayed, so by the time it actually arrived at the station, there were a ton of people waiting.

I was one of the last people to enter the car, and just as I was walking into the train, it happened...

My iPod slipped out of my hand, jerked loose from my earbuds and fell into the crack between the train and the platform.

I'm sure that I said about a million four letter words, because the woman in front of me stared at me with absolute pity. I stepped off the train, let the doors close and the train pass by in case there was any way that my iPod was at the bottom of the tracks unharmed.

And to my luck - - or not - - it was. I could see it laying right beside the rail. Unharmed.

You're right. You know what happened next. I jumped down onto the tracks to get my iPod.

It wasn't until I actually touched the rail with my foot that it occurred to me that I really wasn't sure which one of the rails the fully electrified "third rail" is. Again, I was lucky and the first rail wasn't electrified.

So, I put my iPod onto the platform and tried to hoist myself back up. But I couldn't quite make it.

Now, you Chicagoans know that when the train is delayed, it usually arrives at the station already completely packed and the conductor always says that there is another trail directly behind this train. And usually, it's absolute bullshit.

But not today. Today, there was a train directly behind the train I stepped off of. And it was coming into the State and Lake station. Fast.

I took my bag off my shoulder, threw it onto the platform and tried to hoist myself up. Again, no luck.

The train was coming closer.

I tried again and again to hoist my self up. No luck, no luck, no luck. And all I could hear in my head was Ben Affleck saying that stupid line about the C Train. I thought I was going to be a dinner party story for fanboys across the nation...

"Tell the one about that gay guy who was plowed over
by the subway train just like in the Daredevil movie!!!"

And then suddenly, he appeared. My knight in shining armor.

Well, my knight in a Chicago Cubs t-shirt. But I'm not one to complain.

He walked over to me, held out his hand and said, "Right here, dude." He helped me up and I was barely able to say, "Thank you," before he was gone. Disappeared. Like all heroes who save damsels in distress.

Or homosexuals who drop their iPods on the subway tracks.

So, no more bitching about Cubs fans for me. At least for a little while. The station was relatively full of people and he was the only one who came to my aid.

I've been known to blow a man for a meatball. Can you imagine what I would do for a man who saved my life?