Me and my tote bag in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City
I purchased a new tote bag that I'm sort of enamored with. So I decided I needed to go out and run enough errands to justify its purchase. I made a mental list and headed out of the building, east on 17th street. Nearing the corner of 6th Avenue, I heard a very loud crash.
Across the road, I saw a CitiBike lying on its side, behind a blue Prius kind of car. A guy, who looked completely uninjured, walked over and picked up the bike. Then he said, "Sorry!"
A guy gets out of the Prius and he's yelling before his seatbelt is off.
The whole back window of the Prius was shattered.
I didn't understand. The shattered window was way above the handlebars of the bike. How does a window higher than a bike get smashed by a bike? The whole thing seemed implausible.
I kept on walking.
I donated a pair of shoes and two skirts to charity. The tote bag performed very well.
Then I continued over to the Japanese grocery store between 12th and 13th Street. I have been on a hunt for Arame seaweed, which is no where to be found except on Amazon and I don't like the price and I don't like how they send it to me in a non-recyclable plastic envelope.
I buy Natto at this particular Japanese grocery so I thought they might also have Arame. They did not. But I left with some Natto. In my tote bag.
Because I was right around the corner already, I went to 10th and Greenwich Avenue. My friend Lauri from Swedish Club opened a pop-up gallery that's closing soon. She's an artist. I felt like I should drop by to show my support for the endeavor. While there, a woman came in who said she was Lauri's long lost cousin.
When the long-lost cousin left, Lauri said she doubted that the woman was, in fact, her long-lost cousin.
I, of course, had to mention finding my grandma's long lost cousin on ShtetlFinder.com. This naturally lead to the revelation about my grandma's long lost cousin being the sister-in-law of the lead guitarist from Twisted Sister who I wound up meeting at a Rosh Hashanah luncheon. But that is a whole other story.
Then Lauri and I and this woman named Lee Lee except she goes by Eel Lee got to talking about Arame seaweed and Lauri said that she'd go over to Sunrise Japanese grocery which is on the 2nd floor over by where the St. Mark's bookstore used to be. That's the go-to way to get directions in this town. It's easiest to just name the old place the new place used to be.
I said bye to Lauri and Eel Lee and went to the Integral Yoga store. It was closed. A sign on the door read, "After 45 years in this location, we can no longer stay in business in the current retail environment."
Then I decided to go get a Matcha Latte. The Matcha Latte place was also closed. The sign on the door said, "Closed due to fire." Hm, I mused. That's what all the fire trucks were about on Friday night.
A little depressed, I stomped back up 8th Avenue past the Starbucks thinking about how New York was disintegrating before our eyes. A Popeye's opened up on 14th street for chrissake.
When I unlocked the door to our apartment, Tom was all laughing. He said he opened up the window just a little bit when all of a sudden, he heard a honk and some woman bellow, "Fuck you, you Fuck."
"I love New York," said Tom.
Some things are still the same.
Also my tote bag is amazing.
Across the road, I saw a CitiBike lying on its side, behind a blue Prius kind of car. A guy, who looked completely uninjured, walked over and picked up the bike. Then he said, "Sorry!"
A guy gets out of the Prius and he's yelling before his seatbelt is off.
The whole back window of the Prius was shattered.
I didn't understand. The shattered window was way above the handlebars of the bike. How does a window higher than a bike get smashed by a bike? The whole thing seemed implausible.
I kept on walking.
I donated a pair of shoes and two skirts to charity. The tote bag performed very well.
Then I continued over to the Japanese grocery store between 12th and 13th Street. I have been on a hunt for Arame seaweed, which is no where to be found except on Amazon and I don't like the price and I don't like how they send it to me in a non-recyclable plastic envelope.
I buy Natto at this particular Japanese grocery so I thought they might also have Arame. They did not. But I left with some Natto. In my tote bag.
Because I was right around the corner already, I went to 10th and Greenwich Avenue. My friend Lauri from Swedish Club opened a pop-up gallery that's closing soon. She's an artist. I felt like I should drop by to show my support for the endeavor. While there, a woman came in who said she was Lauri's long lost cousin.
When the long-lost cousin left, Lauri said she doubted that the woman was, in fact, her long-lost cousin.
I, of course, had to mention finding my grandma's long lost cousin on ShtetlFinder.com. This naturally lead to the revelation about my grandma's long lost cousin being the sister-in-law of the lead guitarist from Twisted Sister who I wound up meeting at a Rosh Hashanah luncheon. But that is a whole other story.
Then Lauri and I and this woman named Lee Lee except she goes by Eel Lee got to talking about Arame seaweed and Lauri said that she'd go over to Sunrise Japanese grocery which is on the 2nd floor over by where the St. Mark's bookstore used to be. That's the go-to way to get directions in this town. It's easiest to just name the old place the new place used to be.
I said bye to Lauri and Eel Lee and went to the Integral Yoga store. It was closed. A sign on the door read, "After 45 years in this location, we can no longer stay in business in the current retail environment."
Then I decided to go get a Matcha Latte. The Matcha Latte place was also closed. The sign on the door said, "Closed due to fire." Hm, I mused. That's what all the fire trucks were about on Friday night.
A little depressed, I stomped back up 8th Avenue past the Starbucks thinking about how New York was disintegrating before our eyes. A Popeye's opened up on 14th street for chrissake.
When I unlocked the door to our apartment, Tom was all laughing. He said he opened up the window just a little bit when all of a sudden, he heard a honk and some woman bellow, "Fuck you, you Fuck."
"I love New York," said Tom.
Some things are still the same.
Also my tote bag is amazing.
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