Back to Work

I didn't set a record for a commute today but I came close.

I left the house at around 7:30 AM and didn't drop my stuff at my desk until 11:15. There was some kind of problem in the express bus lane going into the Lincoln Tunnel and we sat on the approach to it for 2 hours. People in the bus were remarkably patient. They were mostly quiet at first and I guess resigned to whatever would happen. Folks broke out their cell phones, crackberries, and laptops but it was hard to be annoyed with them.

My record commute happened one Christmas Day when I volunteered to be at work. I was taking the train back then and it lurched to a stop between New York and Newark in the marshy Meadowlands. We sat there for 4 hours with no heat or announcements. It turned out to be a power failure but no one seemed to be in a hurry to fix it. I began to believe that if the delay had lasted any longer the passengers might begin to eat each other. Then as today there was no thought of leaving because there didn't seem to be anywhere to go.

Today's incident followed by 4 hours of meetings cast quite a pall on the day.

Over dinner we were talking about friends of ours who have an unusual life style. I realized that many people might envy them the life they have built for themselves but I'm sure no one envies the life that we've created.