Tourist for a Day

When a pigeon almost flew in my window, I remained nonplussed.  The rat with wings sat in my windowsill and stared at me. I stared back. So what if I contract avian flew? What’s the worst it can do, poke my eyes out? It flew away, and I considered myself victorious.

It was then that I realized how much shit I’ve learned to take since living in Manhattan. After nearly a year, I’m still amazed by how little I seem to know New York.  I’m utterly forgiving of the city that often treats me like crap. So it was quite nice to play tourist this weekend (minus the socks with sandals) and see the city from a fresh perspective.

My sister came to visit, we trekked down to the South Street Seaport for an hour-long boat cruise around the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, etc. ( I’d received a Groupon via e-mail)

My sister’s outsider observations proved to be quite apropos: it’s dirty. People move quickly. Living in Manhattan is an aerobic experience: it involves lots of stais (in the subway, my walk up apartment, etc). You end up spending a lot of money on food. People don’t pack their lunches they way they do in other cities. You don’t really see Tupperware here. No. Manhattan is not a Tupperware culture.

We then saw a matinee with the early bird crowd. and walked right past the scene of the attempted Times Square bombings. Life seemed to move on without incident, and then we headed to Macy’s to use our coupons. I started to fall in love with the city all over again.

I don’t think twice about much of what I see and do here. Usually, I’m moving too fast to pay too much attention.

Since I don’t have air conditioning, I’ll have to open my window, and let whatever pigeons come my way fly in.