Commuting to NYC in the 1960s

I the 1950s and 60s when we WW2 vetswere making our way in the worlf I was living in Norwalk, Connecicut and working New York city. It took quite a long time to get to work. I would get up at 6:15 am and rush to get the 7:11 train to New York . No breakfast, a cup of coffee on the train, get another hour of sleep before the train pulled in. But in those days the New Haven railroad was on the rocks and it was never certain when we would arrive.......But that was nothing compared to the trip home. I would rush to catch the 6:01 train and sometimes make it. If not, the next train was the 7:02 which meant getting home too late to see the kids IF the train was on time , which it seldom was'

There was a bar car on the train and on the 7:02 it was filled with the advertising crowd going to Westport in full flight having had a couple of shots before boarding. The bar car was so crowded and so filled with smoke you could barely see one end of the car to the other. Everyone in high gear and particularly on Fridays nights after a long week it was a sight to behold. Often in those days the train was very late and it was never certain when we would arrive at the Darien station. When we got there, some forgot to get off and since we had no cell phones, we could not tell our wives who we hoped would be meeting us when we might arrive.

That was the begining of the commuters' weekend. All the pent up energies of the work week disolved into Saturday night parties - filled with much booze and intermigling among the wives and women friends who had been home taking care of the kids and had their own pentup desires. One night I remember the train broke down in Rye and we decided to leave the train and get a rental car in Rye and made it home much before the train got there.

I remember the night that the lights went out in NYC. I was walking to Grand Central when all went black. But I was right near a Hertz car rental. I got the last car they had and got home much to the surprise of my family who figured a I was blackedout in NYC! They thought I was pretty smart!! I hear that the trains now do run on time and that it is a much easier commute, but we wnt through a ten year period that made every trip a new event. But somehow at the time it all seemed part of the game.

Courage

TonightI had a call from an old pal that i went through WW2 with. We didn't talk about the War . We talked about our health and the horrible situation in Iraq and how this miserable leadership has put our dear country in such an impossible situation. But he made me think about courage because my friend at the height of the battle of Cassino in the Italian campaign had a German shell explode about ten feet from the jeep he was driving and his Lieutenant and friend sitting besdide him in a jeep was hit right through the stomach and died in his arms about 30 minutes later. My friend was untouched thanks to the Jeep motor which deflected the blast. But two weeks later my friend was back in his ambulance on or near the front line doing his job. That is courage.

But now in our old age --85 years old - we need and hope to have courage again - a different kind - to fight old age and the deterioration of some of our faculties and not be discouraged by our own situation and the situation of our country for which we did our part back then.. My friend carries his oxygen tank with him and continues to lead a full life , interested in all his activities. He carries the scars of that war with him, but to see him and talk with him you'd never know abut the past. War, when you have really been in it, does damage all through your life which you have to cope with. Churchill said: Courage is the most important quality. It insures the rest, With it you can cope and go forward and do your job.