I've been to NYC before, but haven't spent much time there. Now that DPR and AP live there, I have the fantastic opportunity to experience the city in a slightly different way. I have an apartment to come home to, friends to meet, places to go rather than a hotel room to leave to go around riding an open-air tour bus to see the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. I get to experience neighborhoods, and it so good.
I spent all of my time in Manhattan, which, mercifully is laid out as a grid. So, while I never worried too much about getting totally lost, I did wonder how I'd maneuver in a city. I've been back in the Big Square Red State from DC for three years now. Would I be all awkward, trying to get around the city? Would I be paranoid of missing my subway stop all the time?
Thankfully, I fell right into step, prancing around the city. I was a metropolitan pedestrian once again, confidently covering the city with my purposeful steps. March on!
***
At La Guardia, as I boarded my flight home, I felt proud of how I handled myself among eight million neighbors and streets so numerous they can't all be found on a map.
Me: [swipe my ticket through the ticket reader at the United Airlines gate. Stride confidently down the corridor.]
Flight Attendant: "Excuse me! Excuse me! This isn't Denver!"
Me: [Turn, smile at the gentleman behind me. I wonder what flight he is supposed to be on?]
Flight Attendant: "Passenger Sagebrush! This is not flight 409 to Denver. This is flight 406 to Chicago!"
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Ack! That flight thing is my worst nightmare! Except I worry that the plane will be in the air and the pilot will be like "weather in Chicago is 70 degrees" and I'll be like "SHIT!"
ReplyDeleteI just looked up some pertinent facts about DC, since I suffer from "The Rest of You Have Voting Representatives in Congress and I Do Not" Syndrome. If DC were a state, it would be the 50th most populous in the country, ahead of only Wyoming. BUT it would be 1st in population density, even ahead of New York. So I'm pretty sure it's about time we at least got a Senator.
ReplyDeleteDon't you miss this place?
Tessie - it is only a matter of time until I have a story to tell of actually flying in the wrong plane...just a matter of time...
ReplyDeleteJess - Oh, how I miss DC! Yes, representation is LONG OVERDUE.
I didn't know anybody from WY until I moved to DC. Then I met a whole slew of you!
ReplyDeleteWhen I found out that the city of Baltimore has more people than the state of WY my mind melted a little.
And if it makes you feel any better, I actually got on the wrong train in NYC. I thought I was heading North, instead I was going South.