METROPOLITAN DIARY
Across Eighth Avenue
Dear Diary:
I was waiting to cross Eighth Avenue at 23rd Street when an older woman asked me if I would help her cross the street.
I offered her my arm, and we chatted as we walked the two blocks to her apartment. At one point, we passed an older man who was using a walker.
The woman whispered to me that he lived in her building and was not very nice.
After dropping her at the entrance to her building, I walked past the man with the walker. He motioned for me to stop.
“That was so nice of you to help her,” he said. “Nobody in our building likes her. She’s really mean.”
— Paul Breen
Just a Bite
Dear Diary:
My friend had gotten a promotion at work, and I was taking him out to dinner to celebrate.
He chose a restaurant near Union Square that we hadn’t been to before, a small place with a limited menu. The special that night, pork Milanese, sounded delicious. That’s what I ordered when the waiter came to our table.
“I’m afraid I sold the last one,” he said, nodding toward the table adjacent to ours.
The woman sitting directly next to me shrugged sheepishly.
“Sorry!” she said. “I’ll give you a bite when it comes.”
We all laughed. The waiter suggested I order the pork off the regular menu, and I did.
When our neighbors’ meals arrived, I made sure not to look their way for fear the woman might think I had misunderstood her joke to be a genuine offer.
After a few minutes, I felt her nudge me.
“Get in here!” she said, sliding her plate toward me so I could stab a bite. It was delicious.
When my meal arrived moments later, I asked if she would like to try it.
“Well, it’s only fair,” she said, taking a bite and chewing thoughtfully.
“Yours is better,” I said.
My friend was horrified by the exchange.
“If you two do this with dessert,” he said, “I’m leaving.”
— Timothy Deer
((LOLOLOL! Gotta get back home!))
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html
