Places I Would Rather Go Than Chicago's Union Station

AKA The Worst Train Station Ever

An outhouse filled with spiders. Granted, I like spiders, so this may not be as extreme as someone else saying this, but I feel like an outhouse full of them wouldn't be super pleasant. I'd still rather go there than the Chicago train station.

A calculus exam. I hate math, have no idea what calculus actually is, and am entirely incapable of paying attention to anything I'm not interested in because autism. I'd still rather do this than spend a single minute trying to navigate that fucking train station.

A dark forest at midnight with wild animals and/or serial killers all around me. If I'm in this situation, I'm either not getting out of it alive, which . . . who wants to live forever anyway? Or I'm getting out of it with a great story.

I'm probably getting out of Union Station Chicago alive anytime I end up there, but apparently I'm just always going to have a panic attack, regardless, and that almost never makes for a great story, except for that one time when I was having a panic attack because of an unexpected parade and these three older women decided the best way to help me was to POUR WATER OVER MY HEAD. That one’s a pretty good story.

Yesterday, when I almost made it out of Chicago without an anxiety attack until I was literally boarding the train and the guy at the door yelled in my ear that my service dog wasn't allowed on the seat, which I already knew and also even if I didn't know it, didn't need it yelled in my ear . . . not that great a story. Escaping serial killers on the other hand? Yeah, I'll take that over Chicago any day.

In conclusion, I hate Chicago's train station. It is the absolute worst place for someone with anxiety who is also super prone to sensory overload and has a terrible sense of direction.

In happier news, I am no longer there, and am instead on a train with views like this: