No Longer Bitter Stew?

I was all set to post a bitter rant about how Hobos Inc. is empty, and yet, I still HAD to return (from the Great White North) for two days of work. I was all set to comment on the fact that despite half of New York is not working this week, midtown streets are packed. Reporters in the trenches (Rock Center) have cabled in to tell us that it took them approximately twenty-five minutes to move three blocks. Even Hell's Kitchen is no longer safe. Tourists have waded through 8th Ave and crossed over into the sacred ground of 9th Ave, creating long lines at local favorites, like Basilica. This morning, as I made my way to the subway, the streets of the W Village were eerily empty; morning dog walkers and espresso sipping loiterers seem to have vanished. In contrast, our second home at Penn Station, is bursting at the seams. I witnessed a little boy escape the clutch of his suitcase dragging parents and dash across 7th Ave, only to be saved from a serious flattening by the vigilant eyes of the cab stand man and surprisingly, a cab driver. As father and the cab stand man shook their heads, mother hugged her little darling. And I, Cass, rather than breathing a sigh of relief, couldn't help but think my parents would have given me a corrective, loving swat on the ass.

So yes, I was bitter and ready to expel my bitterness on the digital page, as my dear Tiresias, recipient of most of my bitter stew is away on a much needed (and much deserved) sojourn to her Sweet Home of Georgia. And then..........my bitterness faded. How? I stepped on to the 1 train to the sound of my favorite MTA driver/announcer's voice: "Good Morning New York." I have been a passenger, always on Fridays it seems around 8:40AM, of this man before. And he makes me smile. He enunciates and speaks like a living, breathing, happy person! "Good morning New York....looking good New York" is one of my favorite lines. He was even in the seasonal spirit this fine Friday: "Peace and prosperity in the New Year!" At stops like 14th and Penn Station, he makes sure to stress the New Jersey connection: "Transfer is available to the PATH train to Neeeeeeeeewwwwwww Jersey." And he offers helpful instructions on where to make that connection: “walk to the front of the train.”

So bitter tirade averted...thanks to the MTA #1 driver. I highly recommend taking a ride, Fridays around 8:40; jump on the Uptown 1 at Houston.