I had to have two large lattes and a diet Pepsi to try to wake up. My eyes could hardly stay open. I was hungry. Very hungry. That could have been why I couldn’t focus. Or it could have been because I was so tired. Train rides at 7am are just mind-numbing and soul sucking. Everyone looked like a zombie. We were going through some odd motions.

As I was trying to quickly drink my latte so I could wake up, and so I could then do work, and so I could then do more work….Oh, where was I going? Yes, as I was quickly ingesting caffeine, I overheard my train-ride neighbors talking. At first, it all sounded like Charlie Brown muffled talk. Then, I heard a key phrase and I jolted up.

I smiled and my ears perked up further. I hearx one of the men say “I havd this nagging feeling that this meeting will accomplish nothing.” I wanted to chime in and assure him that he was right. Of course, I knew nothing of his upcoming meeting. I knew he was on a 7am train to go to the meeting. And, that’s all I needed to know. Of course, the meeting would be a waste of time. Over 80% of meetings are. Why should a meeting you have to down multiple cups of coffee for while traveling over a hundred miles be of any use?

Before I could insert myself into the conversation to agree with him, his colleague noted “It’s just verbiage; assuming that they don’t change course at the last minute.” I wanted to chime in and note that of course the possibility of last minute changes were entirely possible.

I didn’t chime in, of course. I never intended to. But in my head, I carried that conversation with them. And, I woke up. I started replaying in my head scenes from the movie Office Space. Specifically, I started thinking of Peter’s meeting with the Bobs. That’s all I have to say on that.