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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsMETROPOLITAN DIARY
Last edited Mon Oct 11, 2021, 03:44 PM - Edit history (1)
Invisible Voice
Dear Diary:
The Q to Brooklyn can be more crowded at midnight than midday: mothers with strollers; older women with shopping carts; girlfriends sharing earphones and mouthing lyrics. It all makes for a comforting sight at that late hour.
On this particular night, the car I was on was empty except for three men who were sitting evenly spaced out across from me.
As the train rattled across the Manhattan Bridge, I shut my eyes against the fluorescent lights, my thoughts tumbling down into the dark water of the East River below.
I heard what I thought was a woman singing softly. Startled, I looked up at the three men across from me: an older one who was closely studying a small book; a young punk leaning forward and swiping his phone; and a big construction worker cradling his helmet as he slept, his mouth slightly open.
I must have fallen asleep too, I thought to myself.
The train went back underground, and I let my eyelids fall. I heard the beautiful voice rise again, more confidently this time, and a few notes of what sounded like opera. I tried to figure out where it was coming from, but the melody came to a halt.
Just the same three men, in the same positions.
I got off the train at Seventh Avenue and the construction worker did too. As I walked up the stairs, he broke into full song behind me. We went in different directions, but I could hear his soaring falsetto as it bounced off the buildings and filled the night sky.
I could still hear it faintly when I locked my apartment door two blocks away.
Michelle Fawcett
Rainy Ride
Dear Diary:
It was a very rainy and windy Tuesday afternoon, and I was walking along Fifth Avenue near Central Park. I was in a suit and tie and had my double bass and the remnants of a cheap umbrella.
I had just turned at 87th Street to walk through the park when a UPS truck pulled up, stopping traffic in the process.
You want a ride? the driver asked, and then opened the passenger-side door before I could muster an answer. Get in.
Cars were honking, the rain was still coming down and I had a 20-minute walk ahead me.
Why not?
I climbed in, sat down and balanced the bass between my body and the inner wall of the truck. The driver dropped me at the C train station. He was cracking jokes the whole way there.
Noah Garabedian
Fish Store
Dear Diary:
It was some years ago and I was working in Midtown. One day, my wife called and asked me to stop at a fishmonger near the Port Authority Terminal on my way home and pick up some fish for dinner.
I walked into the place, where an older counterman greeted me and quickly filled my order. I asked him to add a fresh lemon.
I have a deal with the greengrocer next door, he said, looking up. He doesnt sell fish and I dont sell fruit.
Howard Schwartz
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/10/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html
DeeNice
(575 posts)Nice stories though, thanks for sharing.
Nittersing
(6,390 posts)Just google "UPS dogs".
DeeNice
(575 posts)I was 1st semester in college, didn't know the town much. I was walking back from a dentist appointment on a straightforward route but which was further than i wanted to walk. He starts turning in a direction I'm not going...so I bailed.
Nittersing
(6,390 posts)Last edited Mon Oct 11, 2021, 06:01 PM - Edit history (1)
A local college was performing Handel's Messiah and they needed some adult voices to fill out their alto and bass section. So a group of us boarded a train (don't remember which) and we decided to practice the Hallelujah Chorus on our way there.
Our own little impromptu flash mob.
My high school Choraleers did Messiah, and we/members sing along at every opportunity.