A Walk Down 3rd

I left work this evening and had to go to Lower Manhattan. Rather than take the train, I decided to walk from 42nd St to Wall St. As I walked down 3rd Ave, I had an opportunity to see some restaurants and shops I had never noticed before. I realized after only a short distance that 3rd Ave seems to be lined with restaurants-small bistros, cafes,and delis live side-by-side from 42nd St to 4th St. It also appeared that these eating places were bookended on every corner by a pharmacy.

As I walked down one particular block, I noticed a couple walking ahead of me waving. I looked up to see who they were waving at, and saw a family of four sitting at a "booth" on the sidewalk. Two kids, probably under the age of four, were standing on the seat, facing us. Each time a person got close their eyes lit up and they waved wildly. The couple ahead of me was waving back at these adorable kids.

As I approached the table, the kids lit up again and started waving. A middle-aged woman immediately in front of me glanced at them and kept walking. I waved back at them furiously, enjoying for a moment that they wanted to wave at me-even tho they were waving at everyone without prejudice.

As my longer stride took me past the lady who refused to humor the kids, I thought about my friends. I don't know anyone at all who would not have waved at those two really cute kids. In fact, the more I thought about it, I knew that many of my friends would have stopped and talked to the kids or their parents. While that might have embarrassed me, I would much rather have friends who would wave at and talk to some kids than completely ignore them.

I would have walked that block with anyone I know. I'm sorry it had to be with some uptight woman who didn't seem to appreciate the beauty and innocence of a child. And simply raise a hand to greet them.

Saturday On The Town

I boarded the train to meet Ismael. It had been several months since I had seen him and wanted to reconnect. I told him to pick the time and place and I would be there. He said 10:3o at The Duplex. I was proud of myself for knowing where the bar was, even tho I had never been there before.

I arrived first, ordered a drink and waited at a table. A few minutes later, Ismael showed up with someone I didn't know. Introductions were made and we talked a bit. Michael, Ismael's ex-boyfriend, was a nice guy and easy to talk to. It makes meeting someone new so much easier when they are willing to carry on a conversation.

We had three rounds, then I bought shots. Pineapple upside-down cake with a raspberry glaze. The bartender's specialty. I recommend checking it out when you're in NYC. It didn't hurt that after those three rounds, the bartender bought the shots.

I had to use the restroom, so I met Ismael and Michael on the street. When I arrived there was a third. Ismael and Michael were talking to the guy like they knew him, and I was introduced. We chatted a bit and he flattered me with niceties, then asked if I would meet some friends of his. He said one was a future bride and she would love me. Ismael and Micheal said goodbye, and I went back into the bar with Scott.

Scott introduced me to the wedding party, and asked me to sit. It was then that I saw the deck of cards being passed around. They were trying to "Find a Man who..." One of the bridesmaids held up a card that said Find a Man who is wearing a gold chain. Nope. Mine is silver. Find a Man who has been divorced twice. Nope. Only once here. Finally, I took the deck and sorted thru it. I found some cards that applied to me and handed them back to the girl. Has an accent, hairy chest, blue eyes, and a few more. She looked at the cards, looked up and me and said, "You can rap?" She was looking at the 20 cards that did not apply to me.

Scott wanted to smoke, so I went outside with him. We talked about animals-he has a dog. And a car so he can drive his dog around. He talked about his house in the Hamptons-pretentious. I told him he looked familiar-he has been on some TV shows, but none that I've seen.

We went inside again and Scott began telling a story to the bride and her attendants. It was a story about a friend of his who was getting engaged. He said the ring cost upwards of $50,000. I asked who he was talking about, because I like to ask those questions. He said, "A friend, really a nobody." I would love to be the nobody who gets a $50,000 engagement ring.

It was nice to go out and meet someone and hang out for a while, but I decided I had had enough. Scott wasn't terribly pretentious, but I didn't want to hear about the Hamptons, and I thought that talking about another bride's rather large ring was kind of rude. I would have a drink with Scott again, but for this night, I was done. I told Scott I was heading out and thanked him for the drink.

A night that was supposed to be a quiet drink with a friend, turned into being part of a bachelorette party and a late night. It was another fun night in the City.

A Presidential Week

It's Sunday afternoon, and I had all weekend off! Today, I'm staying home, despite the beautiful day. I love being in the City as much as possible, but I think my time would be better spent cleaning the house and getting ready for a busy week ahead.

Yesterday, I got a call for a trailer check assignment. When she called, she mentioned three movie showtimes between 11am and 1pm, so I left a message for a friend, Alyna, on Facebook suggesting a drink. I suggested we get a pina colada a while back, but at the time, she was with child, so the counter-offer was virgin pinas. Turns out that time goes by so quickly, that by the time yesterday we actually got to meet for drinks, she had had her baby and the drinks could be full-strength. I worked out to meet for drinks at 2:00.

Alyna is a friend of Charity's that I met within the first week of moving to Jersey City. That night at an overpriced lounge, called LITM (Love Is The Message) there were several lady friends of Charity's. Alyna was there, and another woman who has since moved to Colorado. Good or bad, I have no idea who else was there that night. If any one of the other three or four ladies who were there walked up to me and said that we had met that night, I would only have to go with it.

Since then, I can probably count on two hands the number of times I have hung out with Alyna. Most of those times were around a table on the sidewalk of a local drinking place, and Alyna is one of those people I can truly say it is a pleasure to see sitting at a table when I walk in to meet friends for drinks. She seems genuinely interested-I mentioned Dana, and she knew who I was talking about. She asked about my siblings. I wouldn't plan on a conversation about property tax and government spending, but it went there, and it was interesting. It was a great way to spend a couple of hours.

When I was at the theater for the trailer check, I discovered that I would need to go back at 6pm for a final show. I had a couple of hours to kill between meeting Alyna and the final check, so I walked thru Washington Square Park. I watched a group of street performers for a few minutes then continued on. There was an artist on his hands and knees "painting" with sand. He took a handful of colored sand and spread it with his hand. It was a rather large, beautiful and temporary work of art. You can see him working on it above. I made my way back to the theater and finished the assignment I was given early yesterday morning. I ended up being in the City most of the day.

Probably the most interesting day last week was Wednesday. On my way in to work on Wednesday morning, I saw the police setting up barricades on 42nd St. I wondered what was going on, but didn't think a whole lot of it that morning. At lunchtime, I went out to Lexington Ave and found that side of Grand Central barricaded as well. It was then that I overheard someone asking the police what was happening. The answer: The President is coming. I did a little research that afternoon and found that he would be Midtown later in the evening for a couple of fundraisers.

When I got off work, I walked over to the Town Hall, where Obama was to attend a concert. I stood outside and watched people walk thru a metal detector. After a half hour or so, the police said they would be clearing the street and we would not get to see the President that night. I walked back to Sixth Ave and waited on the corner there for the motorcade. I waited for about an hour and still saw no one. There were a lot of police, but no President. I decided to give up and head home. It was a bit of a disappointment, but still interested to see all the preparation.

Next week is Mother's Day. That means a nice, long, busy week ahead at work. Let's see how it goes!