Have you ever found yourself suddenly stumble upon something much bigger than yourself...and also much happier? Well, that's what happened to me last night. I was walking through Penn Station last (having gotten off the 2/3 at one of those annoying exits that force you to exit into the Long Island Railroad terminal rather than the street) when I was confronted by a wall of people - possibly 200 or 300 in total - exiting Madison Square Garden enmass. It being just a bit after 11pm, it was clear this crowd was leaving either a concert or Knicks or Rangers game. See no sports gear I guessed it was a concert. But it wasn't immediately clear what artist. The crowd was largely white and ranged in age from 6 or 7 to late 50s. There was a definite skew toward the late 40s, balding, slightly suburban chubby demographic. The most remarkable thing about this crowd was the uniformly euphoric, almost giddy, and supremely satisfied energy coming off of this crowd. EVERY single person walking towards me was in a good mood...and you could just feel it off of them without even looking into their smiling mugs.
Well, it soon became apparent, I saw of few of those counterfeit T-shirt guys, it was a Bruce Springsteen concert. The BOSS. The scion of New Jersey and Asbury Park. I've always heard Bruce was an amazing performer and a very generous artist...playing encore after encore...even after the house lights are turned back on. And if the atomospher in the LIRR terminal was any indication, he surely delivered last night. It was an utterly unexpected and pleasant encounter for me to walk into this temporary community of Bruce lovers. Happy, polite, and friendly.
Now, the real question is...how do we replicate this same sense of love and family at a Presidential debate?
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