Darting to the Train

Yesterday was a beautiful brisk Fall day in Hoboken. On days like this I especially love my morning walk to the train. Each day, between the hours of 7 & 9 a.m., hundreds of young men and women briskly walk to the same hole in the ground, the NJ Path train, like busy worker ants. No one chit-chatting, no one laughing….Ipod in ears…coffee in hand…focused…truly focused on one thing…getting to Manhattan.

Once on the train, it’s usually about the same…everyone quiet, reading their papers, sipping their Starbucks, or sitting or standing with their eyes closed…catching a few extra minutes of sleep. Until suddenly the entire train here’s a conversation. All ears react…except the Ipod endowed. Two nice looking men recognize each other and cheerfully greet one another. One is slightly showing the signs of gray, the other younger and without a wedding ring (I always look). Anyway the older gentlemen said “Hey, how are you? "Have you seen Michael lately?” The younger man smiled and said, “Yeah, I saw him last night...Tuesday is darts night.”

I thought…”darts night”…..”darts night” “Tuesday night is darts night?”. He appeared to be mid-thirties, obviously single, well-dressed, and Tuesday night is darts night?” So, this is what men do on Tuesday nights in Hoboken…They have darts night. Didn’t darts go out with hula hoops?

I opened my bag and put on my Ipod. Reality can be deafening.