Photo via NBC New York.

Connecticut commuters were delayed for up to three hours on Friday morning thanks to a child’s abandoned school project. The scare started at around 5:30 a.m. this morning when, according to the Connecticut Post, a street-sweeper noticed a “box with a smiling face with clock hands” on an overpass near the Fairfield Metro-North station. He contacted the local police, who agreed that the item was “suspicious,” and a bomb squad was dispatched to investigate. But even the most casual Futurama fan could have told the authorities to worry less about the item exploding, and more about the possibility of it suddenly coming to life and bending the tracks in half.

It took until 7:30 a.m. for the experts to show up and determine that the Bender-esque box was empty. Its owner was later identified as a student at nearby Tomlinson Middle School, who had left his creation outside with the intention of coming back for it later, or at least that’s what the little litterbug claimed.) Meanwhile, train service through Fairfield didn’t get back to normal until 10 a.m., giving passengers yet another opportunity to complain about the issue-prone commuter rail. “I don’t defend Metro-North any more [sic],” said one frustrated rider. “I used to say that Metro-North was better than the Long Island Railroad — not anymore.” To be fair, this isn’t the first time that a piece of Comedy Central–themed art has brought New England to its knees.