28th Mar 2004
Where Did All Of These People Come From?
Must be spring.
I knew something was up when I saw the subway pull into the station
yesterday. Saturday morning and crowded. Happier faces than the grim
facades of workaday winter. Did these people lick a tab off of their
Metrocards? Could it be Aromatherapy on car 6131? Someone burning
incense? I did just see some Hare Krishnas in Astor Place.
Apple SoHo. Prince Street. Where did all of these people come from?
Hibernation must be over. All of the wimps who stayed in all winter
are suddenly out and about. Everyone’s shed a layer of clothes since
last weekend. The braver ones (like me today, in reaction to the
humid enclosure of yesterdays leather jacket) are out in short
sleeves. Cafes everywhere spill out onto the sidewalks.
It’s like New York suddenly changed. There’s still the
not-so-accessible facade that I notice so much, but it’s mellowed
(yeah, I can say “mellow”. I’m from fuckin California man!) a bit.
Hardened Gothamites are a couple of millimeters closer to smiling.
So maybe this is what New York is really like. I’ve lived in
Manhattan since December, so perhaps I’ve had a warped perception of
the people here. They’ve all been in “all bundled up, don’t fuck with
me cause I’m cold, just coping” mode. Do they emerge, like so many
grumpy groundhogs, into the warmth of spring as friendlier? more
talkative to strangers? I’m looking at Union Square, and vibe of
“happy and energetic” wafts across. I think I’ll head back over to
Central Park to see how many skaters have popped out to shake off
cobwebs.
Or is this weekend an abberation? a fluke?
Sign me, an amazed Californian, who was just getting used to New
Yorkers in their Winter Mode (and then they all go and change).
