JimInVa
Train Attendant
Last Wednesday I was rolling from NY Penn to Washington Union Station after a day of work and meetings. I cashed in an upgrade coupon to sit in First Class, and sitting right there two seats away was none other than Cal Ripken, Jr.
For those of you on this board who don't follow baseball, he's a record-breaking Oriole shorstop/third-baseman who redefined the position of shortstop...and also got inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. (Incidentally, he's also NOT on the list of cheaters using steroids that came out this week!!! Way to go, Cal!)
It took me until Wilmington to get up the nerve to talk to him, figuring he gets hounded everywhere he goes. I told him my son, a high-school senior, plays short and third and that my son would never let me forget it if he found out that I saw Cal Ripken on the train and didn't at least say hello. Cal was amazingly gracious, stuck his hand out and introduced himself (as if he was an anonymous stranger..."Hi, I'm Cal." DUH!), and then asked me a lot about my son's baseball skills and plans. Then he took a note card out of his pocket with his personal logo, jotted down a very nice note to my son, and then signed it with a flourish.
What a class act!
The conductors said Cal's a regular fixture on the Acela. Yet another reason I take the train instead of the shuttle the six to eight times each month I have to go to NY on business.
I guess there really IS something about a train that's magic!
For those of you on this board who don't follow baseball, he's a record-breaking Oriole shorstop/third-baseman who redefined the position of shortstop...and also got inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. (Incidentally, he's also NOT on the list of cheaters using steroids that came out this week!!! Way to go, Cal!)
It took me until Wilmington to get up the nerve to talk to him, figuring he gets hounded everywhere he goes. I told him my son, a high-school senior, plays short and third and that my son would never let me forget it if he found out that I saw Cal Ripken on the train and didn't at least say hello. Cal was amazingly gracious, stuck his hand out and introduced himself (as if he was an anonymous stranger..."Hi, I'm Cal." DUH!), and then asked me a lot about my son's baseball skills and plans. Then he took a note card out of his pocket with his personal logo, jotted down a very nice note to my son, and then signed it with a flourish.
What a class act!
The conductors said Cal's a regular fixture on the Acela. Yet another reason I take the train instead of the shuttle the six to eight times each month I have to go to NY on business.
I guess there really IS something about a train that's magic!
