Lessons of the City

In August I learned my first lesson of living in (or nearly in) New York City. I got on the wrong bus. It was evening, around sundown, and I grabbed the M8 Crosstown bus off of the Christopher Street PATH stop. Unfortunately, I took East when I wanted West. After I got on I thought, "Well, it will come around the corner and head back East in a few minutes." Just as the thought bubble with elipses were read in my cartoon panel, the bus driver announced, "Last stop, you have to get off." So there on West St., stranded with a transfer ticket and a map of where the hell he was supposed to be going, was the classic newbie.

What a way I found to make my entrance into the population. The store fronts were all boarded up and grafittied, and I waited for what seemed like 20 minutes (but was probably 19) for my ride to arrive. I knew eyes were watching me with curiousity. One individual walked past, stopped, waited behind me, walked past and returned, so I put my hand firmly on my pepper spray just in case. He eventually moved on (dot org) and I relaxed. Soon the bus came and I landed at happy hour in Alphabet City only 10 minutes late. My lesson: Know Which Carriage You Want.

Tonight I learned another important lesson: Carry An Umbrella, Doofus!

I left home this morning for a successful interview (more on that later) under warm, sunny skies. After a trip to the AMNH, I returned home for a 15 minute nap and back to the pavement to go to my night job. I thought it was supposed to rain today, but I must have been mistaken because the weather was fantastic. It could be the last short-sleeve day, so I wasn't about to run half a block back home when I remembered I didn't have an umbrella.

Tonight when I left work, the smell of rain in the air covered the smell of garbage in the street. The sidewalk was damp of a recent sprinkle, and the overcast sky forbode something I did not want to believe. By the time I exited the PATH station in Hoboken, the downpour kept most riders under the cover of the stairway awning. I felt brave however, and walked into the wet.

After about 30 seconds my clothes were soaked to the skin and my skin was soaked to the bone. Another half minute and my bones were soaked to my ability to blame anyone but myself. I knew I was an idiot for leaving my bumpershoot at home.

It took only a three block walk to get to a CVS to buy an umbrella, but the $15 price was far higher than the Manhattan street price of $3. Nothing like being desperate. For a 20 minute walk in the rain, an hour's pay was worth keeping the rain off.

Now at home I have a collection of 4 umbrellas, which I plan to hook over every door in my apartment should I forget again. I just hope a lesson learned is not a lesson forgotten. Or at least that I'm in Manhattan near a street vendor if it rains instead of Hoboken.