I admit it.

I saw that bag sitting there.

I asked around, as intructed by the omni-present WMATA ad campaign, “Is that your bag?” and all nearby Metro riders responded in the negative.

So what next?

The ads say to alert a Metro employee or the police. I’ve got the Metro police phone number plugged into my iPhone. But the train was moving, it was Friday evening, and this was a rarely-seen available seat on the Orange line.

I picked up the bag, carefully set it on the floor, and sat down next to the window. A woman sat next to me, between me and the mystery bag. She had seen the whole thing, yet had no fear.

She didn’t call the a Metro employee or the police.

Thoughts raced through my head:

• I can’t tell my friend who works at Homeland Security I did this.
• I can’t call Metro because I get no reception down here.
• If I call the driver from the call box at the end of the car, it will surely cause a panic and screw up my commute (as well as the Friday night commute for a lot of other people).
• That’s a nice lunch bag. It’s really something that should go in the lost-and-found. Do they have that any more?
• What if I just threw it out a door at a random station, in case it is a bomb?
• I guess if I threw a bomb out of a train I would get arrested at some point…

Luckily it never blew up. I got home safely, though full of guilt.

These Metro ad campaigns have me convinced that every lonely bag should be treated as a suspicious package. But this was not a suspicious package, according to common sense, and according to Metro’s definition. It was a small insulated lunch bag, with room for a drink, and it seemed obvious to me that someone had forgotten it. If it had been truly suspicious I would not have touched it or moved it.

What would you do?

Washington DC’s Metro system (WMATA) is in financial trouble.

As a regular commuter via the Metro subway system, this is a big deal for me. I need to get to work downtown, and Metro is still cheaper and faster than driving and parking downtown.

Frankly, as someone who has lived in both DC and in VA, I see how states have privileges that the District doesn’t. In my honest opinion, I think Virginia and Maryland, or the Federal government, should pitch in some capital for WMATA to refurbish the Metro system. Because as long as Congress refuses to grant statehood to the District, the District’s problems belong to the entire country. But I am aware the country is short on cash, and subway repairs are not top priority when we’re at war and people need jobs.

(Hey, wouldn’t subway repairs put people to work…? Never mind me.)

That said, I have also utilized a number of community bus systems as part of my daily life. In Arlington, there is the ART system. Georgetown Business Improvement District has its own shuttle bus between Rosslyn Metro, Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle. Then there’s the downtown Circulator bus. I’ve got no idea what Maryland might have going on. If WMATA held a summit with all these operations, they might very well find some money to made on the roads – via these ‘new’ bus routes that have been already tested – to help their underground business.

How about the money that’s been put into these operations by Arlington, the Georgetown BID and the Downtown Business Improvement District? Seems like there’s an opportunity here. And I still think, despite a few accidents and scandals, that WMATA bus drivers are the best bus drivers in the area.

It has been nice to have a clean, safe subway to be proud of. Wouldn’t it be nice to keep it that way? I think it’s worth a little raise in rates, and I’d love to see WMATA take over the ART route I need to get me all the way home.

More details and opinions on the mess that is my daily ride to and fro:

• The Washington Post – Metro to cut official who oversaw safety: FARE INCREASES ALSO PROPOSED – Agency seeks to close $175 million budget gap
• Unsuck DC Metro – Metro Has a Sad
• Prince of Petworth – Friday Question of the Day – Do You Support a Commuter Tax for DC?

Anyone looking for free all-ages rock in Northwest DC might as well head out to Fort Reno, near the Tenleytown Metro stop on the red line this week and many others this summer.

Monday July 6

• Go Home Robot
• Sea Monsters
• Power Pirate

Thursday July 9

• Imperial China
• FFFever
• The Key Blanks

This year’s season will be short, so don’t miss any shows!

All shows 7:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

No glass bottles, no drugs, no alcohol.

Full schedule and info on how to keep Fort Reno concerts going available at: fortreno.com

It’s a DC tradition! Free and fun for the whole family, if the whole family rocks, that is.

Monday  June 29

• Cigarbox Planetarium

• Small Doses

• Batala

Thursday July 2

• Caverns

• Aerialist
• TBA

This year’s season will be short, so don’t miss any shows!

All shows 7:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

No glass bottles, no drugs, no alcohol.

Full schedule available: http://fortreno.com/

A couple of years ago, I got a frantic call from my husband. He’d been hit by a car on his way to work. I remember feeling so helpless — I was all the way across town, and I wanted to teleport myself to his side. I had so many questions and horrible pictures in my head. (Luckily he escaped with only some injuries to his arm and is now fully recuperated.)

In September 2001 I was helping run a government conference in College Park, Maryland. We heard a plane had crashed in Manhattan. We wondered if we should let our attendees know. Then the second plane crashed in Manhattan and one crashed into the Pentagon. Almost everyone at our conference knew someone who worked at the Pentagon or nearby and the conference screeched to a halt. Everyone had someone they wanted to contact, to check on or to let someone know they were okay. The Twin Towers were tragic, but the Pentagon was HERE. And we KNEW those people.

Last Monday, June 22, 2009, will unfortunately be as memorable a date for a number of families in the Washington area as September 11 is for many Americans. The Metro crash on the red line brought sudden, senseless tragedy on at least 8 families (of the 9 who died, two were a married couple) and it’s hard to forget a day like that.

But even more families probably got phone calls like I did, letting them know that their loved one was on one of the trains that was involved in the collision. Some of them had to track down their spouse or son or daughter at one of the area hospitals.

That is a frantic search, and a painful period of not knowing what state your loved one is in. And any survivors with serious injuries may be dealing with corrective surgery for months to come. And health care bills and insurance nightmares. This Metro crash is going to change their life for the foreseable future.

All my love goes out to all of you who were involved in that horrible Metro crash. I haven’t forgotten you. Even though we also lost Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson this week, I still care most about the Washingtonians that are suffering.

For the next week, Silver Spring, Maryland is documentary film central. If you consider yourself a film buff and you’ve never experienced SILVERDOCS, you need to at least take the time to review the variety of films being screened at the AFI Silver Theater this year.

That’s right, the AFI Silver Theater. Out-of-towners may not realize that the American Film Institute has a movie theater in the middle of downtown Silver Spring, just outside of Washington, DC and it’s a pretty nice little joint. All year long there are special screenings at this theater, which did have a home at the Kennedy Center for many years. But frankly, this location is much swankier, and easier to get to in a lot of ways — a short walk from the Silver Spring Metro station. So even if documentaries aren’t your ‘thing,’ you should check out the schedule at AFI.

Moving on, though… there is a documentary for pretty much everyone on this year’s schedule. I plan to see Muhammad Ali this week in Facing Ali. That’s right. Mr. Ali himself will be a special guest. And I can’t resist finding out what the Best Worst Movie is. Beyond that, there is Splitting Hairs, about the World Beard & Moustache Association; Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo; The Nine Lives of Marion Barry and so much more.

If you aren’t able to get tickets for a screening in the theater (which could very well happen at this late date), there is a free outdoor screening being offered in the Silver Plaza of For All Mankind on Friday, June 19 at 9:00 p.m. about the men who have traveled to the moon. This film puts together the images of their experiences, their words and voices. Sounds pretty awesome.

Redecorating is fun! We all love to do it, even our friends at Metro.

As we speak, Metro is testing new seat covers. Why? Who knows? I can only surmise that these new atrocities must be cheaper. Because they are not more attractive and they certainly can’t be more durable than the good old-fashioned naugahyde.

According to the official press release,

During the test phase, Metro will monitor ease of replacement, durability, ease of cleaning, overall costs against the existing seat covers and the appearance of pattern and color. Upon conclusion of its evaluation, Metro will select one of the new fabrics for installation on its next order of rail cars.”

I may not be able to ride the Metro based on my fashion standards. The “appearance of pattern and color” of some of these candidates is downright repulsive.

Please, send your comments to Metro. Use the Metro Customer Comment Form, I beg you! Remember, we have guests coming in January, for God’s sake! We can’t let them see that awful Las Vegas hotel-carpet looking stuff! We are the Nation’s Capital!

Watch the video — see what you are in for: