On the Avenue No Hammerstein August 14, 2003, Blues
Renaldo1941
The blues in the title are not my own -- I feel blessed and privileged to have
seen Bob Dylan three times in the last four days. No, the blues in the title
are the blues of someone like Barbara Moore, who was so looking forward to the
show, and who went through extremes to assure an enjoyable Dylan concert
experience. With nothing here to do except stare outside at Second Avenue, I
started taking notes.
It's 5:30 and there are hordes of people right outside, walking on both sides
of the street, cars swerving to try to avoid pedestrians, up and down second
avenue. I'm sweaty and disgusting, but at least I'm not out there.
It's 5:40 and some guy has his thumb up as cars pass on second. Good luck,
dude.
Editorial: Unfortunately, it seems Mayor Bloomberg of NYC just doesn't learn.
Sure, he received flak when he suggested that the public hitchhike and pick up
unknown hitchhikers in the event of a transit strike (which fortunately did not
happen) several months ago. I hope nobody gets hurt, but am I the ony one
cynical enough to believe that people will malevolently exploit such a
situation?
5:45 -- Two quite heavyset women have their thumbs up looking for a ride. One
car passes. And then another. And then a third. One lady says "someone will
stop." It's a sad scene because it's just not going to happen, and that's the
brutal truth. If these women were fit and the kind of women deemed
"attractive" by society, though, they would surely have little trouble finding
a ride.
6:15 -- Here's something you won't see every day, hell, it could be out of
Masked and Anonymous: a Lincoln going 30 miles an hour, the wrong way down a
one-way street.
It's 8:30 and dark outside. An ambulance has pulled up to the west side of
48th and 2d. It's impossible to tell what happened, but there are a man and a
woman talking to whomever has been placed in the ambulance. All I can say for
sure is that this person was thankfully not hit by a vehicle, because I could
not have failed to see that.
It's 9:40 and a car has broken down on the east side of 48th and 2d. Six
people have hopped out to, they hope, repair the vehicle. Oh, are they
vulnerable. You can hear the catcalls in the night, though they are of unknown
origin, which makes them even creepier. It's 9:57 and the car is off and
running, and at least six people are feeling a bit more relieved than they were
moments ago.
It's 10:20 and the streets are filled with less people -- a typical quantity at
this point, if this point were 5 p.m. I guess people are (wisely and finally)
reluctant to walk on the street in the pitch dark and have resigned themselves
to living as the other half lives, on the streets of NYC, for tonight. Walking
on the street at this hour seems like it might be akin to suicide by cop, only
it would be suicide by cabbie.
The yellow cab drivers are not the only wackos on the road, though -- there was
the woman who at 6:35 came racing onto second avenue, crossing wildly to the
east side, narrowly missing, oh, about eight people while honking as she
swerved to pulll into the one open parking spot. She lept from the car,
quickly opened and closed the trunk as if on a mission, opened and closed the
back door, reached into the driver's side to turn off the engine and grab her
keys, while another woman alighted the passenger side. Survival of the
fittest. I am Woman, hear me roar.
Things that didn't change but I sure wish would
--Motorcyclists traveling way too fast making way too much noise in a way too
futile effort to show how big their penises are.
--Tough guys hanging out on the street, looking for trouble. Things overheard
from one class-act's mouth: "Run, you fiucking skirt. . . . Yeah, just bring
it!" Pure class.
Bkindmoore
Sure, he received flak when he suggested that the public hitchhike and pick up
unknown hitchhikers in the event of a transit strike (which fortunately did not
happen) several months ago. I hope nobody gets hurt, but am I the ony one
cynical enough to believe that people will malevolently exploit such a
situation? >>
Enjoyed reading all your thoughts from a
window, Renaldo. I had similar feelings from
the streets about hitching. After a scary
evacuation from an E train, I walked 7 miles
home. (I had been on my way to Hammerstein
Ballroom to pick up my ticket for last night's
show.) Along my walk, I saw quite a few people disappear into cars with
vulture-looking drivers.
I can't help wondering what happened to these innocents. Tired as I was, and
trusting as I'd like
to be, you could not have dragged me into one of
those cars.
<< 6:15 -- Here's something you won't see every day, hell, it could be out of
Masked and Anonymous: a Lincoln going 30 miles an hour, the wrong way down a
one-way street. >>
Shades of "Someone says you're in the wrong
place, my friend..." Wonderful image!
<<Things that didn't change but I sure wish would >>
I'd like to read some more of these. Hope you
add on!
Fonyfirl
Hey! You didn't happen to see two riders
approaching, did you?