I Needed a Day Just Like This

This morning, I got up and went to Growth Group. That's the small group study through my church. It was a good time, and an interesting discussion. But what happened after was even more fun for me. As I was walking back to the train station (the one 10 blocks further, so I could smoke), I was waiting at one particular intersection for the light to change. A car was sitting just forward of the white line, and a taxi came up behind it, nearly hitting it before stopping. When I say nearly, I mean literally inches bumper to bumper. And, when I say inches, I mean one or two. Everyone on the sidewalk gasped, and a man across the street started yelling. "OH MY GOD!! What did he do?!?! We're all gonna DIE!!!" At that point, I started laughing, and we began crossing the street. On the other side of the street, a man walking beside me asked the man who yelled, "Are you crazy?" To which he answered, "Yeah, a little bit. Welcome to New York!" The funny part to me, is that I can see myself as that man in 10 years.

So I got to the train station, and was waiting for the next train back to the relative sanity of New Jersey, and a test train came by. It was a brand new all silver train, with LED lights showing the destination and video screens on the inside. The plastic was still on the seats and a sign said that it was a test train and out of service. Can't wait for them to be in service. They looked Nice. But, I digress. Just as the train was pulling away, a man ran up the steps yelling about catching the train, and realized when he got there that it was out of service. Thats started a rant about how they were going to raise the fares, and he was betting on $2. And soon. Then he picked up the passenger assistance phone and called the operator and said, "I'm at 23rd street going to New Jersey. How long til the next train?" He hung up the phone and said, "They said 2 or 3 minutes. They always say 2 or 3 minutes." The guy next to me started laughing as did I, and I said "You just don't get any better entertainment this cheap." The guy next to me told me that he worked at a hostel in The City, and that he sees the same movie every night. Incidentally, it was only 2 or 3 minutes for the next train.

Then, I got over to Jersey City and went to the mall to do a little shopping in my store. I found what I needed and went the train station. While I was again waiting for the train, a mother with a 4-year old boy and an 18-month old girl (I asked) sat down next to me. The girl kept throwing her cookies on the ground, then her hat. Basically anything her mom gave her to hold, she threw. The hat was the final straw. The mother began speaking sternly, in Spanish, and the girl was getting whiney and fidgety. Just at that moment, the little boy swooped in with hawk-like maneuvers and snatched the last cookie from the girl's lap. And ate it. In front of her. Of course, when she saw that, she wanted it back. Then the train came. God bless the parents of small children.

OK, so I'm almost home, and realize that I forgot to get bath salts and bubble bath for Ali. Her birthday is next week, and she loves her baths. I found a card for her that says, "Bubbles or bath salts....May that be the toughest decision you make on your day." I thought I might confuse her by getting her both. Never fear tho, there was a drugstore on the way home. I stopped in there, and they had nothing. Nada. Zilch. So I ended up walking about 4 blocks out of the way to every store I could think of that might have them, and no one did. So as I was walking back, I went back into the drugstore and got a bottle of dish soap and a thing of table salt. I went back up to the register and said that I would just get this. I had previously told the girl what I needed and why, and when she saw what I got, she said, "I hope you have to do dishes." I said that this was going to be her gift. She said, "Is this a friend of yours?" I said, "Maybe not for long." She asked who I was and where I came from. The last part was, of course, the best. I asked her to double bag it because I just didn't have time to wrap it. She rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, you don't want to spoil the surprise."

I can't make this stuff up. Not even at my most creative. It was so much fun to go out and observe a few different people today. I might have to do this more often.