T-RIDE: The secret to getting to somewhere fast

This may get me in trouble... but here’s what I’ve noticed: When I’m in a hurry to get to the office from the train I find it’s best to locate a person taller than myself (I’m 5’8 so this isn’t exactly difficult) and follow them. I come up with some basic guidelines for this process. Chances are I’ll never know the tall person’s name, so I’ve taken the liberty of naming them myself. I lovingly call these tall friends “t-rides” There are several reasons why picking the right t-ride should get me where I need to be a little faster. First there’s the obvious…. Well selected t-rides have longer legs; this means they can take bigger steps and therefore tend to get places faster. Next is height advantage…. so they can easily look ahead and hopefully avoid congested traffic areas. This next part you can actually observe this if you are ever at an airport, or any overly crowded area like an amusement park. There’s some science to this, seethe brain functions in different “states” and these states can be triggered by surroundings for example when being hypnotized the brain enters a highly suggestible alpha state, people in alpha states have delayed reactions and can move slowly. Alpha states can be triggered by eye movement. If people need to look up there is a good chance that for a split second the looker will enter an alpha state. When the looker enters alpha they will pause momentarily (this is exactly what you want). If I pick the right t-ride who takes advantage of the lookers slight pause, hopefully they’ll jump ahead therefore seizing the right of way and I can follow the t-ride right through a crowd with amazing efficiency. I always try to maintain a following distance of 2 feet or arms length. Be aware of quick direction changes or stops. T-rides also offer some degree of aerodynamic advantage. On windy days I actually mutter thanks my t-ride when they take the brunt of the gusty winds while I enjoy a less windy commute. Be sure to “lock in ” and walk right behind your t-ride, because opportunists may snake your spot if they think your moving on.



Here are some tips for selecting a t-ride:

• Coffee: an overly caffeinated t-ride is a wonderful thing and that full bladder is sure to add some pep in the step
• Fidgety behavior: this often means the t-ride is anxious and hopefully (for me) looking to get going in a hurry
• Baggage: avoid using a t-ride with too much baggage as it can slow you down

Finally I always say thanks to my t-ride when we part ways