Wednesday, August 27, 2008

A New York Perspective

I'm blogging from one of my favorite cities, although I haven't really been here (except at the airport) in many, many years. My ideas of New York were culled from early Woody Allen movies (BC -- before the catastrophe) and other romantic comedies. New York is always so beautiful, so clean, so..., well, New York. (This, of course, is not counting Al Pacino or Robert DeNiro bloodbaths in the Big Apple).

So, my husband and I were walking around yesterday afternoon (what else do you do here?), when I spotted mounds of garbage bags on the sidewalks. "Why are those here?" I naively asked my better half. "They pick up garbage every day here," he replied. Now, I don't remember seeing bags and bags of trash gracing the sidewalk in "You've Got Mail, " or any other movie with Meg Ryan looking perky in it. Then, it was like, "Oh, of course, what did I think they did with all their garbage from their multitudinous skyscrapers?" I didn't think about it. I didn't think about a lot of things -- like what it would feel like to ride 12 blocks in a cab that was about 1/4" from the next closest vehicle. Or that I would get to speak French every day because this is the summer and Manhattan is filled with tourists and Paris is deserted....I didn't realize how happy I would be to see a few dogs, and how "normal" everyone looked. People in shorts and t-shirts and flip-flops, just like where I live. And then I realized, this is Real New York -- where people live, work, go to Starbuck's, get their mail, and even are interred eventually. (We did walk by the first NY cemetery). And, people were friendly! Of course, most of the people with whom I spoke were tourists, foreigners, actually, but still....In other words, I got a good lesson in "Perspectives in Reality" as I enjoyed all the sights and sounds NY has to offer. I believe in real NY -- and that's a great perspective! Ciao! Paula

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