New York Nitty-Gritty: December 2005

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Public Service

Hey, Hey! I am in Oregon from now until January 8th. As a Public Service to both of my faithful viewers (God bless you!), I offer a Guest Post by an intrepid New Yorker, regarding NYC and the illegal transit strike. Enjoy!

"I'm sure you're all panting to know just how we are doing here in NYC, what with the transit workers running amock, Bloomberg talkin' loud (um, for him anyway), and patience wearing thin.

Day Two started much like Day One: everyone is freezing their butts off and thinking that good ole Rudy would have knocked a few heads by now.

Tourists are the worst. They're here and they are HAVING FUN DAMMIT. More than once, I've been mowed over by deceptively jolly-looking women with a cup of Starbucks in one hand and an overdressed five year old clutching what is surely her entire American Girl collection on the other.

Or else its teenagers cut loose for the day, cheerfully chatting on their cell phones, walking 4 abreast, while some harried man on the way to the Penn Station Riots (and who looks like he just might open fire) is stuck behind them.

I am a little worried that the ambulance corps will be called out soon. Many haven't actually walked more than 3 blocks in 30 years. They huff, puff, and plop themselves onto benches like inflated whales, gasping for air and MickyD's.

This morning, while stuck in a 20 minute exit from the PATH TRAIN (long story of poor crowd control) I saw a woman calmly playing Seduko (sp?), a few people with the most giant pieces of luggage ever!, and heard the person behind me hiss "I hope they all get fined and DIE!" There are more of those annoying silver scooters today than yesterday--clearly day two has made their owners pull them out of storage!

But on the upside, I'm getting excercise, and each morning, I sturdily walk past Lord & Taylors, which is pumping music out onto the street--sort of like the orchestra on the Titanic playing ragtime as the ship went down--. Today Dean Martin (I think ) was crooning 'THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR", his dulcet tones soothing me and reminding me that, by by day's end I'd have a well deserved stiff drink in hand!"

Lucia M.