Posted on October 14, 2010
Every so often when I come to work, I am thankful that I work in a place with such a relaxed atmosphere. Yesterday would be one of those days. As someone who lives on the New York side of the George Washington Bridge and travels to the New Jersey side for work I can tell you that it’s rare, especially during my morning commute to sit in any sort of traffic. Yesterday’s commute more than made up for it when it took me nearly 2 hours, instead of my usual 30 minutes to arrive at work. The bridge, closed due to an accident for several hours was at a complete standstill. I watched people get out of their cars and even abandon the buses they were, presumably giving up their efforts in trying to get to work.
With my iPod in hand (and ear) and my AM NY crossword puzzle underway, I was just as happy as could be. After completing the crossword puzzle (and not moving a single inch on the bridge) I decided to take to my BlackBerry to check out the news of the day…and what a doozy it was…three words…The Chilean Miners!
Yes, indeed, sitting on the bus with my backpack on my lap had grown tiresome and it would have been nice to stretch my legs, but to put things into perspective…at least I wasn’t half a mile into the center of the earth…for 69 days. By the time I strolled into 11 miners had been rescued…3 of them during the time while I was on the bus! I was hooked, and there was no way I couldn’t stay informed about this story all day. I ever so nonchalantly told Daniel that I had been invested in this story all morning and as a joke (I think) he said I could stream the rescue all day…little did he know that I’d take him up on this offer.
Though I tried not to watch the rescue all day (because I’m told that would have been completely unproductive), I did listen and when I heard a siren, I knew that meant to tune in to see another miner come to the surface. It was truly one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen on television (and let’s be real, everyone has probably seen someone eat a bug for $1,000,000 dollars at this point).
Yes, it’s good for me that I work in an environment that can occasionally stop to smell the roses (or in this case, witness miners get their freedom back), but it’s also pretty good for me that I don’t often go to work thinking that I may be stuck there indefinitely…that’s what commutes are for.
