Life parallels whatever you're reading
So I was riding home on the train yesterday, and the train had just reached the second Philly stop. A few kids (17 or 18 years old) walked by, but a whole bunch of people were boarding and I was reading, so I didn't really register it. As they walked by, one palmed my trail pass from the little clip on the seat and kept walking. I didn't even notice that I noticed before I jumped up and started screaming at him. I basically just screamed that he just took my pass, and my name was clearly on it, and that I wanted it back right now. He looked at me, surprised, and then gave it back and ran. He was out of the train and halfway up the stairs before I moved. I'm reading an interesting book called "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell, that examines all the cognition and instincts that come into play in a matter of a few seconds. It looks at police training and marketing studies, it's a quick and fascinating read. But it was an interesting real life example of what could have happened in three seconds. On one hand it would have been much worse if I didn't notice until a few moments later. I would have lost a pass worth about $130. But I second guess myself for not chasing him, or yelling for help, or running for a conductor before he got away. I did learn an important lesson about not using the little provided pass clips. But even after the kids walked off the car, about thirty other people still left their passes there. I guess my instincts were good, if not great.