Every time you ride on the Long Island Rail Road, you get an experience you’ve never had before. Most times it’s pretty inoncuous, other times pretty foul. Today was just plain ole entertaining.
It is the phenomenon I’m calling tailgating on the train.
Turns out Mets fans (of course, who else would be this low-class) pick up a case of beer (no better quality than Bud Light, usually much, much worse) and a package of small paper bags (sometimes using old holey, dirty socks) and crack them open while on their way to the game.
I guess this makes sense. If the game starts at 7 and it’s about an hourlong train ride and the train leaves at 5, then when else are you going to tailgate?
I just happened to manuever my way into the “party car” of the train this evening, sitting in between two large, obnoxious and increasingly drunk sets of Mets fans who somehow didn’t get arrested for public intoxication or violating open container laws or drinking and training or something despite train conductors walking by four, five, six times during the ride.
They didn’t even offer any beer to the conductor. Or me for that matter. My viewpoint might be totally different if someone offer me a baggie and beer. I did also see others who either forgot the baggie or decided to live on the edge and drink in plain daylight. Didn’t seem to matter much, but I’ve seen the baggie technique a few times so someone at some point must have been told that drinking out of a baggie is ok. Whatever.
I probably would’ve wound up arguing with them about the Mets and Marlins and wound up bloodied with beer cans crushed against my forehead, but, well, thank goodness for my ipod. I just put the music up as loud as I could stand to drown them out.
I never thought I’d dislike the mixture of orange and blue so much. … Oh, and I have failed to mention the guy sitting in front of me who thought he was “the Miz.” Who wears bandanas as headbands anymore anyway? Well, I found someone. He got on the train in the Ronk, of course. Just because there’s more people living up here in the northeast and especially in New York, it certainly doesn’t mean they’re all more cultured.
That being said, seeing the tailgaters, err … traingaters? … made me nostalgic for our fun tailgating times. Whether it was the parking lot of the Trop, the Swamp, RayJay, Vero Beach or the stoop, I always enjoyed firing up the grill, cracking open a beer and enjoying tasty barbecue and lively conversation with friends.
Labor Day’s coming up, ya’ll, who makes to make a trip to the FoHills and tailgate the streets of NY? How about Central Park? Now that would be the ultimate tailgate. Any takers?
Just check out this weather: (you knew I’d get the weather in there somehow).
Ronkonkoma:
Tampa
| 5-Day Forecast for ZIP Code 33601 |
| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday |
 85° F | 74° F
29° C | 23° C |
86° F | 72° F
30° C | 22° C |
 88° F | 72° F
31° C | 22° C |
88° F | 74° F
31° C | 23° C |
90° F | 72° F
32° C | 22° C |
| Chance of T-storms
70% chance of precipitation
|
Chance of T-storms
70% chance of precipitation
|
T-storms
50% chance of precipitation
|
T-storms
50% chance of precipitation
|
T-storms
50% chance of precipitation
|
| Tropical Storm Fay |
August 25, 2008 at 1:31 am
[...] Tailgating on the train. [...]