It was a fairly normal commute on the LIRR yesterday morning, albeit a little late after a morning breakfast meeting. I was happily engrossed in my Ipad, instant messaging with my office, when a symphony of sounds made me jump.

All of a sudden my phone and the phones of at least a dozen other people on the train around me rang a loud siren. It was bad enough on my phone but the combination of all of my neighbors was startling. It took us all a minute to realize that all of our phones had just simultaneously received a Severe Weather Advisory.

Almost in unison, a little laughter and then everyone then turned back to whatever activity preceded the siren.

A new normal I suppose.