Still Sundays
June 13th.
If you would like to know what Still Sundays is about, please take a quick gander here and just read the first paragraph. Thanks.
This morning–not as early as I usually embrace a Sunday morning in NYC–the City is about as still as jell-lo. Easy but not necessarily steady.
A couple of blocks down the street there is a group of men who sit and play chess. Some are there every morning and the others are around only on the weekends. There is this one older guy with thick eyebrows and dark brown skin which glows who always says, “Life is a checkmate.” He doesn’t say it to me but I hear him most times I happen to pass by if he is there. I may just stop one day and ask him to explain more. I have my ideas how life is a big checkmate: either/or tug-o-wars which leave you neither here nor there. I want to be a trapeze artist when I grow up one day. Or are those just performances?
One day during this past week I sat next to this woman on the subway. She was reading a printed out law case. I didn’t know the case but when I peeked over I caught names of other cases mentioned in it that were familiar. Legal writing always felt like massage oil for my creative glands; it is just that the legal field left me neither the time nor emotional energy to create. I hear that no learning goes to waste, so law and I will come full circle. I suppose some circles are bigger than others.
Last night at dinner my friend and I were at one of those Italian restaurants where all the tables–in typical Italian fashion–are rather too close to one another. New Yorkers think it is a New York City we-have-no-space issue. I recall having been to some cities in Italy, albeit many years ago, where this is just how you eat. So what if you can hear the couple next to you discussing their sex life? Or the two men arguing about their last business transaction? Well, last night my friend took a moment to reply to a text message she received. To show her that I didn’t mind, I took out my own crack-berry. The woman sitting next to us said, “We just read about this article. People sitting next to each other and yet being plugged into their electronics. There is no real communication.” We both smiled. Neither one of us had taken any offense to the other using our mobile devices. Moreover, you can’t make sweeping generalizations to one ex-lawyer and one practicing attorney and not expect a line by line shredding of your accusation. I think law teaches you to think in a particular way that you can never again get out of your system. The world is a grid. I couldn’t help but wonder how often people are not plugged into their mobile devices yet there is still no communication.
I believe the entire month of the word cup no one should have to work. Given 3.5 billion people watch it there is bound to be some harmony on Earth during that month if allowed the space to enjoy it. But knowing earthlings, they would kill each other over a match, no? So scratch that idea.
Well, there are some FIFA games to catch, plans to make, and to call my hero, my younger brother, and wish him a happy birthday…
~a.q.s
Dear Annie,
Lacking my 1.5 hrs in each direction of commuting in New York, one would think I would have more time to do things now that I have a 20 mins round-trip walk in San Francisco. That, sadly, is true. Why sadly? I feel that somewhere I’ve lost the ability to make the most of my time.
The last years I spent on Long Island were dreadful and going into Manhattan for work was a relief from all that I hate about suburbia. My routine was to hit the 7-11, grab the NY Times and a cup of coffee. I was always early so I could have a smoke and read the headlines. The train arrives and I usually get the same spot. As I settled in I crack open whatever book I was reading. I arrive Penn Station an hour later and read the Times while on the E uptown. I read 5 books a month. I’d be lucky to read 1 book a month now.
When I lived in Manhattan, I managed to read 7 books a month. It was harder to do since I’d always be invited out to dinner, drinks and other social gatherings.
I went out with a friend of mine last night. The whole night was a whim. We met for coffee, decided to head to the East Bay for Ethiopian food, came back to the city and did something I haven’t done since I was living in NY – bar hop. I normally don’t drink but did manage to have 2 beers. During our nocturnal urban trek, my friend hounded me about being less social because of social media.
I, of course, do not blame social media as it is still my decision to play.
How do I plea?
Res ipsa loquitur… nolo contendere
Wonderful post Annie, absolutely wonderful.
Thanks for sharing!
John
Fantastic post Annie, I really enjoyed that slice of NYC life. Haven’t been yet, but some day soon!
I also don’t like how some restaurants pack tables together, I would prefer a more private conversation and those two sitting next to you; if they had a comment to make about mobile phones, they should have said it directly to you, rather than indirectly.
If you ever find out about the man and life is a checkmate, do let me know, as I’m fascinated by his comment.
And I know what you mean about the law. I remember when I started studying law over 15 years ago, the Dean of Law said to us that once we were finished, we would think in a completely different way. I didn’t believe her at the time, but she is right.
Sometimes I think the law stunted my creativity, but yet I’m thankful for the experience.