4.05.2007

observations

It was raining last time I was here, too. This is getting annoying. My friend AW1L says that in Iowa, where he is from, people are obsessed with weather because of an agricultural economy, and because the weather is spectacular and extreme there. New Yorkers, he observes, only want to know how the weather will inconvenience them personally. "This rain is so unnecessary, it's annoying."

* * * *

Welcome to New York, your subway is not running. Change to another, then another, then grab a bus cross-town. To the next date, I hop in a cab. This gives me the added bonus of seeing 11th Avenue, the tiny diners clinging to the spaces between car dealerships. Manhattan Mini-Storage advertises: "Your closet is scarier than Bush's agenda."

* * * *

On the uptown A, a family gets on at 34th Street, mom, dad and boy each holding a large, shiny trophy. I ask dad, "What did you win?"

Dad says, "No, that's OK, we're getting off at the next stop."

Heh. The car is only half-full. I wasn't offering my seat. "What did you win?"

"Oh! Chess."

"Really." I nod. "Impressive. All of you?"

Dad nods in the direction of boy. "They're all his."

I congratulate boy, who is skinny and white, and whose confidence withers as I smile at him. I save him further embarrassment by looking past him. "It's pretty cool when you win so much you need help carrying your trophies."

I go back to my book. For the rest of the trip, mom and dad make an ostentatious show of talking about their tournament, their travel, their upcoming plans. No one looks at them, including me.

* * * *

Back uptown, where se habla espaƱol, chickens are hanging in store windows and Latin music spills onto the sidewalk. It feels like home. I don't miss it, but I feel comfortable, and that comfort makes me happy. I get an unmarked dollar-van back over the bridge. As I get up to exit at the first stop, a very large African-American man sitting next to me wishes me a happy holiday.

No comments: