I’m on my first business trip to Philadelphia. The project involves another software development effort for a new client at 18th and Market, in the heart of the business district. My hotel is only a few blocks away. Someone suggests the stock exchange building at 19th and Market as a good place to have lunch as they have a seating area open to the public.
The scene is too much to take in at once. On the right is a glass wall; behind it is what must be the data center. The racks of servers with blinking lights and Dockers-wearing employees confirm it. One worker stands out in a particular. His tattoos and hardware in various piercings stand in stark contrast to the business casual outfit. A pleasant artificial water fall cascades ahead of me. On the left side of the atrium numerous stock tickers scroll their announcements of today’s winners and losers. I walk closer for a better look at my employer’s current trading price.
Kerplunk!
I’m completely under water! I'm rudely presented with the bottom of a small canal. I touch bottom with my finger tips and bring my knees in so they’re on something solid. I stand.
I’m waist-deep in a small canal fed by the waterfall. There were concrete barriers spaced a few feet apart to prevent exactly this from happening. They would have been far more effective had I looked where I was going. My cheese steak is in worse shape. The meat is bobbing separate from the roll, an oil spill of Velveta surrounds the mess. The wool trench coat I wear bogs me down as I climb out.
Everyone's quiet and looking at me. Even Mr. Tattoos and Hardware Under Glass is looking with a smirk. They don’t laugh out loud, but I hear giggles from a few. The day before the Dow dropped 400 points.
Some joker yells out, “The market will get better!”
I do my best to wring myself out before I leave wet footsteps out of the building. No cabbie wants a drenched man in the back seat. The few blocks to the hotel are miles when you have to endure cold winds and even colder stares. Once secure in my room, I call the client to indicate that something came up and I’ll be another hour or so at lunch.
After the trip, at home, my friends ask if I enjoyed seeing Philadelphia.
“I’ll never forget it.”