Metro waits for no one.

Dill's sister, Melanie, and parents riding the famous DC Metro.

It was Thursday evening and we were a little lost in Crystal City, trying to find the rooftop dinner (which was in Pentagon City, just a few stops south). Once we figured out we needed to go a little further on the metro, we hurried back down to the tunnel to catch the next one. Lucky us, it just so happened it was pulling up to the station as we got on the down escalator.

One thing you should know about the metro is it's efficient mainly because of how quickly it stops to pick up and dump off passengers. It screeches to a halt, the doors fly open, people pretty much run off or on, the doors shut and it's blasting off again. It's about a 30-second deal each time. And metro doors are not like elevator doors in that they don't re-open when you frantically throw your body through the threshold. Basically, if you're late, you're catching the next one.

So, we're on the escalator and we hear the train coming. Dill and his dad, Roger, get this crazy idea to run down the escalator and hop on before it leaves. So the two of them and Melanie bolt down the escalator to the platform. Well, Dill's mom and I were in flip-flops at the top of the escalator and we just really didn't have it in us to run. But the fear of being left behind won out, so we gingerly shuffled down the escalator as quickly as we could, trying to avoid any Cinderella moments. When I reached the platform, I made a mad dash to the door and slid into the car just before it closed. Phew! Indiana Jones, eat your heart out!

That's when I thought, Where's Debbie? She was just behind me ...

And I turned around to see her, still on the platform, like a deer in headlights, her hand and forearm wedged TIGHTLY between the doors.

It turns out I am not the person you want to be stuck with in a situation like this. I basically sat there, dumbfounded and helpless. Staring in horror at the scene before my eyes. Thinking, What do I DO!?! Imagining the train barreling down the line, dragging Debbie (or probably just her arm) in its wake. Scared crapless.

Next thing I know, the doors fly open, releasing her arm from their grasp. At first I had thought maybe I'd willed it to happen with the powers of my mind, or maybe a heavenly being had come to the rescue. Then I looked over and saw that Roger had wrenched his door open, causing ours to open, too.

Well, I'd expect nothing less from a former cop. Roger saved the day!

Later, I was so loopy from exhaustion that every time I'd think about what transpired, I'd get a fit of the giggles that would turn in a maniacal rage of tear-streaming, belly-aching laughter. I know, heartless! But everything turned out OK, with the exception of some minor bruising.

Lesson is: Metro waits for NO ONE. So if you're running late and you like your limbs, better just catch the next one.

And now, for your entertainment: Here comes the metro! (No one was harmed in the making of this video.)