The LIRR and Other Tales…

I’m probably one of the few people out there who hate taking the Long Island Rail Road to the city. Whenever I take the train, I feel like I’m sitting there squeezed into a tight spot and can’t move. I can’t read my paper because it always seems to annoy someone and when I play my ipod I get the nudge from the passenger sitting next to me that it’s too loud. So, typically, I sit there, look out the window and think, “when are we going to get there!”

When I take my car, it’s a different story. I sit in my plush driver’s chair, turn on either satellite radio or my ipod and relax. Even if there is traffic, I alway think this is the better way.

So, when Allie Herzog, my Coordinator of New Media Services, asked me to join her on the train yesterday to our city office, I hesitated.

“I don’t know why you don’t like taking the train in,” she said. “It really is relaxing.”

I met her in Long Beach on the 7:23 am into the city. It was a direct train. We sat in the first car but didn’t get a window seat. We started to chat quietly about HJMT and strategies for some of our clients. The woman sitting on the other side of Allie, who was changing her band aid, kept looking over at us with annoying stares. The woman diagonally across from us, wearing a green and white spring coat and oversized gaudy gold ring, said, “you guys need to tone it down a bit. We’re trying to relax over here.”

“We can’t talk?” I asked her.

“Just keep it down,” she said in a condescending way.

So, we kept talking but this time we whispered. Believe or not, she still complained. I guess people who ride the train in the morning want to feel like their in their own cars alone…

The day got better. In the evening, Allie and I sat on an Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) panel to give a seminar to the group on Blogs and Social Media. Although there weren’t many people, the seminar really provoked some interesting conversations. A few of us went out for dinner afterwards.

I just joined EO. My friend and client, Rob Levin from the New York Enterprise Report, referred me to the group. And I’m glad he did. I really liked meeting the people at the seminar last night. I can definitely see that it will be a good experience.