Recently, I became worried that a friend of mine was lying unattended, face-down in the Gowanus Canal. As it happened, he was at home eating cheese and drinking a bottle of wine, but the very thought (black and white, 'Einstein on the Beach' in surround sound, Bogart lighting up on the banks) of the oil-slick canal on a cold night was enough to have me frantically checking up on him.
The fact is that New York is a scary place, where peril and injury may lie around every corner. For some this is a thrill; others are oblivious. I prefer to observe and take notes. There is obvious danger, of course, such as oncoming sidewalk-biking delivery men and an unwary tumble onto the dread Third Rail. Evil might lurk, camouflaged, inside bad sushi or a bone-crushing but otherwise beautiful pair of shoes. And we all play Russian roulette with the unexpected, emotionally unprepared for early morning encounters with stale coffee and inbred, mohair-clad shih tzus.
The only answer is to become even more neurotic, or to be sure that if you DO fall into the Gowanus Canal, someone will notice your absence and check up on you. And so, when running late tonight to meet a friend for tea, I received a 'LADY DID YOU PERISH' text on my cellphone, I laughed...and was secretly comforted as I texted back, 'the scythe just missed me; CALM DOWN will be there soon.'
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
A few years back a friend had fallen into the Gowanus, from a boat, he lives today!
maybe if one spent less time exasperating, one would be more likely to make ones appointments ON TIME.
one would assume, LADY.
Post a Comment