Take A Hike

Take A Hike

Many of the thousands of Europeans coming to the US are (rightly) outraged at New Jersey transit charging $150 for the normally $15 ticket to the Meadowlands where the games will be held. You can't get on the train without a special ticket, and there are no cars allowed in the lot. So, as Europeans are wont to do, many of them intend to take another train to Rutherford, New Jersey and walk ten  miles to the stadium. I imagine in Europe that's a pleasant little hike that perhaps takes you through two or three neighboring countries, but not so in New Jersey.

In New Jersey, my homeland, it takes you across the ten-lane, deadly dangerous Interstate 95 where average speeds are about 80 MPH, and that's just the buses and 18-wheelers; across several major train tracks, including the high speed Amtrack Acela which hits around 150 MPH around the stadium; across the Pulaski Skyway, if you chose that route, which scares the hell out of professional drivers; and across the actual Meadowlands which is the long-time dumping ground for toxic chemicals, where rats feed on mercury, and where, supposedly, Jimmy Hoffa is buried and was never found.

If you want to attend the World Cup out there, pay the $150 for the train ticket. With all those Europeans walking that way, there are going to be a lot of prime, empty seats.