It's always Better to Catch the Early Train

By Augustus Siko
This is a condensed version of a trip I took with 3 others to New York City from my hometown Poughkeepsie. This trip taught us a lesson that slapped us in the face because we missed the early train. (READ QUICKLY!)
On Thursday night, October 2, 1986, Augustus J. Siko Jr., better known as Uncle Gus, was working in the Grand Union thinking to himself of all the incredible amount of chores he had to do. He was also thinking of what he was going to be in less then 24 hours away. When his break came he sucked down the caffeine-filled can full of Jolt Cola and went to work. He had to be out of the Grand Union at 8:00 AM and he wasn't planning on staying a minute later. As he put up the freight, he could hear somewhere as clear as a bell in the back of his mind a huge crowd screaming. He imagined the exhilaration of the crowd as GENESIS entered the stage. He pounded away at the freight and the more he thought about the concert, the more he thought about getting out of work on time. And so at 7:56 AM, he rolled the last U-boat of cardboard boxes in the back room and left pronto. He went home immediately to get some sleep.

At 12:30, after 3 hours and 47 minutes of sleep, he awoke realizing that it was all down hill from here. When he came home from class, he threw his books against the couch and he literally jumped into the shower. After drying off, he packed all his things and then he stared at his camera. Was it worth the risk to take his camera to Madison Square Garden to take pictures of just a rock concert? Your damn right it was! So he grabbed his wallet and he made a stage exit out the front door.

(READ AS FAST AS YOU CAN)
At 2:40 PM, Ralph Umhoefer, better known as Rockin' Ralph, was pounding away at the keyboard of the cash register like a secretary on angel dust. Groceries were flying as it left the palm of his left hand. He was also concentrating on getting out of work on time. Those last 20 minutes seemed to take days as his customers would take hours to find their checkbooks. He was running out of patience and when the time came for him to close down he counted his money once and only once. Uncle Gus slammed on the brakes as he pulled into a parking spot and he ran into the store with his eyes fixed on Ralph's drawer. Was he almost done? It was 3:10 and the train was leaving at 3:50. "I'm going home to pickup Jason. I'll meet you at your house." said Uncle Gus. "Alright." Ralph replied. Gus went over and grabbed his film, payed for it, and was out the door. Chris Kieley was pushing carts and noticed Gus doing cart-wheels across the parking lot to his car. He shook his head knowing that he almost had the chance to be doing the same thing. Unfortunately,

Jumping Jason had changed his mind to take the $21.50 ticket. At 3:27, the three of them were on their way out of Ralph's driveway. At 3:32, the clutch of the little blue Datsun 310GX poured smoke tailing out of the back of the car as its little weak tires emitted a faint but deadly chirp out onto Route 55. The temptation of running red lights was on Gus' mind as he cursed slamming his foot on the leaky brake master cylinder. "DAMN!!!", Gus shouted, "Its going to be real close". They had to catch the train because they wanted time to go back to Sean's apartment to leave their things they had brought for staying over night. A zoom lens was also on Gus' mind. Taking the next train would have cut the time too close. The concert started at 8:00 and they didn't want to miss the beginning of it.

The speedometer read 65 on the 30 mph arterial. "Oh no!" It was a traffic jam up ahead. An accident? Road construction? A shadow fell across their faces as they saw images of the train leaving without them. But wait... What's this? A short-cut up ahead on the right? YES!!! BINGO! The front-wheel-drive tires screeched around the bend as the little engine pumped its little power into them. Bags flew out of the back seat of the car onto the shoulders of its owner. It was 3:49 as they ran down the stairs passing the ticket window. They hopped on the train and grabbed their seats. (SLOW DOWN) Uncle Gus, Rockin' Ralph, and Jumping Jason had caught their train.

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At 5:50, the doors opened at 42nd Street at Grand Central. Sean finally came at 6:15 and they left for the subways. This was something Jason had never experienced before. He had only seen the clips from the CBS news at 7:00pm with WALTER CRONKITE. Sean guided us through the maze of passage ways and finally to the first token booth. It was a dollar. The subway was pulling in as three of them stood there studying the covers of the porno magazines facing out the window of the bookstand 12 feet away from the track. Sean grabbed their shoulders and they climbed aboard their subway. Eight minutes passed before they stepped off the second subway. Out the exit arm-counters and up the stairs they went. For five minutes straight they ran carrying their bags wondering just how water proof their bags had been made to get to there destination. Was it the apartment? No! It was the store, to buy beer, of course. They returned to the apartment and after about 20 minutes of sucking down their beer, they realized that they had to move right along.

At about 7:58, they arrived at Madison Square Garden. Gus went to get something to eat while the others went to buy the tour shirts. Music started playing as Sean was buying his shirt. Everyone started scrambling around like a hospital during an earthquake. Cocoa cola, hot-dogs, t-shirts, cameras, binoculars, and beer all began to race back to their seats. The concert was beginning.

The lights dimmed and the stage lights swung slowly into action. Daryl, Chester, Mike, Tony, and Phil entered the stage. The crowd went wild. Gus thought about what he was doing less than 24 hours ago. Now he was here. The concert had begun!
GENESIS started off by playing MAMA.

The concert included: Gus and Ralph made their way to the bottom of the stage. As good as the pictures turned out, it didn't compare to the video he bought afterwards of the "Invisible Touch Tour".