(First off...I know...it has been MONTHS since I posted, but here is a fun one that i think you will enjoy!)
I am living in NYC and two days ago I left on an epic journey; auditioning for The Voice on NBC. My time slot said that I needed to be at the Izod Center in New Jersey by 7 am Saturday. Of course there were no trains or buses to NJ at 7 am, so I knew I needed to figure it all out fast. I ended up hopping on the A Train and taking it to Penn Station where I boarded the Red NJ Transit to Secaucus, NJ. At Secaucus I switched to the yellow line. However, I got on the WRONG yellow line. (They run parallel to each other!)
The ticket puncher looks at my ticket and says, "Umm...where are you trying to go?" I replied, "Rutherford." He then says, "Oh...you are going to have to get off this train at the next stop and go back to Secaucus to get on that train." Haha. After waiting in Delewanna, NJ (honestly, has ANYONE ever heard of Delewanna, NJ??) I headed back to Secaucus. I looked at the sign and it said that the next train to Rutherford was at 3:45 am.
It was currently 11 pm.
I sat down on a bench, got my book out and started reading. I got tired of reading, so I ate some crackers. I finished my crackers, so I played some Angry Birds. I got tired of that, so I people watched. I fell asleep on the bench at 1:30 am. At 2:30 am a guy hit me with a magazine and asked me where I was headed. I SHOT up and yelled, "RUTHERFORD at 3:45 am!" He looked at me and said, "There is no 3:45 train there. The screens have been frozen all night and they just put up the new times." Unsure of what I would find, I walked to look at the sign...
6:40 am to Rutherford.
After talking with my mom I got into a taxi and went to the Izod Center. Right after the taxi left, a Security Van showed up and escorted me off the premises. No one was allowed on the premises until 5 am, and seeing how it was 3 am, I was not allowed yet. They took me to a little industrial area where I walked off the road and fell asleep for two hours between two trees. I had to use my shirt as mosquito netting, but that hasn't been the biggest problem! I have come to find at least 35 bites all over my arms!
Now that it was 5 in the morning, I got in line. I didn't actually count, but I was about the 80th person in line. Two and a half hours went by and the line stretched all the around the Izod Center! Thousands of people showed up and it was only 7:30 am! They finally opened the doors and started ushering the hopefuls onto the arena floor. They looked at our passes, checked our IDs, scanned our codes and put us into groups of ten. Then, ten-by-ten, they brought us into rooms with one judge. This judge would listen to us sing a verse and a chorus from any song and then proceed to give a "Yes, No or Maybe".
My whole group went and I was surprised at how good each person was. Everyone in my group did a really good job, but in the end only three people got a "Maybe." I was not one of them. A maybe meant that you could POSSIBLY get a phone call by 10 pm that night for a call back. If they didn't call you, it was a "No." After filing out of the room, they cut my wristband and off I went on my merry way.
Of course, I was still in New Jersey and I only had $4.75 in cash with me because that taxi took all my cash! I asked a couple people where the bus stop was. Some people said, "There is no bus that runs here!" While others said, "You have to walk over this bridge, go under it, and walk a little bit." I walked under the bridge and got NOWHERE! It took me an hour to find that bus stop! Once I finally found it, I sat down, in the shade of course....I burn easily and I had already been in the sun long enough!
Half an hour goes by.
An hour goes by.
An hour and a half goes by.
At this time, everyone else who was waiting for the bus decided to pool their money together and take a taxi. I, only having $4.75, was not one of them.
After TWO hours of waiting for a bus that should have come twice by then, it arrived. A fresh group of auditioning hopefuls ran off the bus as I prayed that the bus was not $5. I found out it was $4.25 so i paid my fee and skipped down the row to my seat.
Homeward bound at last.
Overall it was a good experience. Even though it was the longest and most exhausting night/day of my life, I am glad I went through it all.
And even though I didn't make it through to the next round...my friend Jamar did! I hope he makes it all the way!!!!
