Take the A Train

Take the A Train by Roxanne McDonald

Then indulge in too many cookies and contradictions….

A fellow TV writer emailed me the other day that he is getting more into Survivor and more sick The Amazing Race, while I am getting worn out by Survivor and more interested in The Amazing Race. Of course, the last week’s installment put me over the edge, as I am a student of the Holocaust and am writing the memoirs of a man who was a child in the camps.

But the most stunning of locations to “play” at was handled quite well, quite respectfully, and the return to horrible events and memories did not deter faithful Amazing Race followers.

The Amazing Race participants, however, seemed to quickly forget the value of sensitivity, compassion, and respect, returning to their own perspectives, speculations, and side-swipings of others.

I don’t know how much real time passes for the players, between legs of the race, that is, but I would think even a week passing wouldn’t be enough to make them forget completely. Or maybe the AR production team edited out comments regarding the past experience…I don’t know.

In Krakow on their way to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Uchenna and Joyce are discussing the down-to-the-wire competitiveness; and Oswald and Danny are working their way into another of many disputes in their thirteen-year relationship.

The focus is on needing a minimum of 45 minutes for a connecting flight in Germany when they only have, they are

told, an hour. This is going to be close (and as we have seen before, maybe disastrous, as the arriving flight is never on time). No one is getting rude, yet, as Oswald calmly and wisely checks for different flights with longer connection times, finds a later Paris arrival, and as he and Danny say goodbye to fellow partners Uchenna and Joyce, who have opted to stay with the riskier flight.
The Beauty Queens and Charla/Myrna, however, are not having as cordial or respectful a time booking flights, as one team sneaks a listen to the other team’s departure times, etc.. That is, while you might have guessed the sneaky ones to be Charla and Myrna, this time, all of a sudden, Myrna has gotten the notion to have some morality, and insists she and C. will not resort to such underhanded strategy as sneaking a listen. Had the Beauty Queens not thought to do it first, I am sure Myrna would be announcing a different rationale, here.

Erik and Danielle, who are usually picking on each other, are now mimicking Charla and Myrna with high squeaky, “Why don’t people like us?” sounds. This derision is shared with the Beauty Queens, within seconds of the cousins now sneaking a listen to who’s on what flight info….

But the cousins of contradictions are not the only culprits. Just wait. In fact, when they get to a YIELD opportunity, they decide to pass on yielding anyone behind them, as they would prefer to win the race on their “own merits” rather than on sneaky, underhandedness.

Of course, they had hogged the internet flight-booking part, so Eric had made them wait when they wanted to cut for a minute and ask a question, but then….

There’s some deliberation about ground transportation (to the Batu Caves in Malaysia), and while Myrna and Charla are running for a now-departing bus, Erik is boasting the decision to take the train is much wiser.

Wiser still, dear Erik, is how Charla and Myrna did their infamous networking, and while in flight had gotten info on optimum routes to the Caves. The Beauty Queens did one better, and actually solicited (not sure how, exactly, but we can guess…) a stranger to take them there. Oh, and Oswald and Danny had done their research, as well, so the time Erik used being preoccupied with what others are doing or how others are acting would have been better applied to researching? Instead, he and Danielle wait to get directions to the caves.
The clue to head for the Kampung Baru Mosque also indicates the YIELD, which Charla and Myrna are apparently going to arrive at first and pass right by.

The DETOUR offers the option of Batiking or biting—through 600 cookies to find one single cookie with a delicious licorice center. (Is this not a poor country? Or am I being weird about wastefulness?) Anyway, Charla and Myrna are thrilled about doing the cookie challenge, and Danny and Oswald, right behind them by a few, not so much.

The Beauty Queens yield Erik and Danielle, and all the while he was thinking such nasty thoughts about the cousins! His response is the classic for the episode, and one which I wonder if he had to edit for prime time: he calls them “dirty hookers” when while we know what he means we are disappointed that it doesn’t have nearly the same effect as calling them dirty whores. LOL. I have to laugh again. For so many reasons.

But, Erik, if you are listening to any advice that doesn’t contradict itself, listen to the serene and sagacious Joyce, who when coming in last with her mate said, “Oh, well, you can’t win ‘em all.”

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