If they don't exit at SEC, they'll get off at Bloomfield

These two ladies, one with a horrendous laugh, just threw themselves into a seat behind me on a 5:45 pm rush hour train from Penn Station NYC to New Jersey.  Out of all the trains running during peak hours, this is by far the most crowded and most aggressive time slot.  You can see the way the men circle and pace between monitors, positioning themselves by doors, relying upon senses of psychometry to reveal to them which track their train might be coming on so that they can lunge forward, backpacks and messenger bags in tow, hoping to get any obtainable advantage over the other commuters that physics might allow for. 

Now these two got on relatively early, as the trains board 10-9 minutes early, and there was still 5 minutes left of boarding time.  They were just tickled with themselves about how seamlessly they arrived on the train.  They had apparently expected a much greater ordeal.  I was cringing inside, partly because their banter and that horrendous laugh was putting my human patience to the test as I was already engulfed (or trying to be) in my reading materials for the trip home, and partly because I was anticipating with some anxiety, the inevitable backlash that their giggles and incomplete sentences would inevitably solicit from the crowd of regulars in the front car, one of two designated and self policed “quiet cars” on the line. 

After making the required stop at Secaucus, the underclass of Bergen County began to exit from their standing positions in the aisles, brown bagged beers in hand...and a few of them climbed suddenly and forcefully from their middle seats claimed just 4 minutes prior.  You see, Secaucus riders indiscriminately board the first train they see with SEC next to it, as this designates a train that makes that stop as opposed to EWR for Newark Penn Station.  Predictably, Laverne and Shirley both exited at Bloomfield with their New Jersey Italian American Urban accents and endless banter.

Anytime you see the guys with the brown bag cans of Bud Light, they are getting off at Secaucus.  You can put money on it.  Occasionally they might ride as far as Newark Broad in order to transfer to the Morris-Essex or the Summit/New Providence/Dover line, but 98% of the time that guy is getting off at Secaucus.  I don't know what it is about the Bergen/Port Jervis commuter, but they are an entirely different breed from the more cultured and IMHO more civil found in my own town.