Just that kind of day

As I walked to the subway, more like ran, I was trying to switch one bag to another hand, as my coffee was spilling down my arm. A man passed, and said "you have a run in your inner knee." He stated it as a fact, no rude intent, straight faced, no smirk. I looked down, "oh geez,ok thanks." Just another thing, I thought to myself, thank God it's Friday. And he must of seen the distraught look on my face and realized I was a hot mess at that particular moment because he quickly added "but it looks nice." It was comical, but kind none the less, I laughed and said "well thanks,I'm sure it does." He laughed to and we kept on going in our respective directions

Late wave

I was walking to get my morning coffee I saw a man sitting on the bench outside, as a stroller passed by he waved at the 2 little munchkins inside it. They didn't respond...right away, as I passed the stroller I heard the little boy ask his mom, "can I wave?" His mom said "yes you can wave." So he did, but by then he was a few feet past the man and the gentleman looked a little sadden by the lack of response. So as I approached I told the man "sir, he waved back, it was just a late wave, he asked his mom if it was ok." The man smiled and said "oh ok then, better late then not at all." Such a cute encounter

Elevator pitch

A term I had never truly understood until yesterday. As I rode up to work, with only one other person on the elevator, we each got in and punched our numbers. And she asked, "ooh what's on the twenty-sixth floor". I told her a law firm and she asked if I was a lawyer. I told her I wasn't and she asked "but do you want to be?" I said yes, actually I do. She was kind of adorable in her inquiry, like a small child on awe, "oooh tell me why?" I laughed a little. Well I want to be a child advocate actually, so I wouldn't do what the firm I work for now does. She then asked so what is that exactly, because my dad wants me to be a lawyer and I really don't want to, he said I should deal with medical law. I said, "well you would definitely make a lot of money what I want to do is represent kids who can't represent themselves." "Ooh that's so good." she said As I was about to exit she said "ok, if I ever need a lawyer I'm coming to you, I'll be your client and you'll be my lawyer" she smiled and I laughed. I would say for my first "elevator pitch" that went quite well.

The look that said it all

We stood on opposite corners, almost like a face off her and I. We looked at traffic, looked at each other looked at traffic. It was stopped in the intersection, all the way across the crosswalk, but was there enough time? We looked up again, and there it was again, the unspoken "I'll go if you go". And so we did, we stepped off our respective curbs and crossed the street, maintaining the stopped traffic on a green light for just a few moments longer

Overhead on Madison

"You should really hear this new playlist I created."
"Dude, she wrote me like an essay." (Man looking at his phone talking to his friend as they sat on the corner)
"Were you there when that woman attacked me at the newsstand?"

Kooky woman

"Can I tell you a disgusting story?" I heard her ask the man behind me. "Of course." He said. I assumed they knew each other and laughed as she told the story. She tapped me on the shoulder and said "you think I'm crazy don't you?" I laughed and I said, "no, just bringing joy to the morning." She laughed and so did the guy she had been talking to. And then she exited the train. Apparently she was just a friendly person.

Makeshift parents

I got on the train, more like squeezed my way in. Shoved up against multiple men in suits. I frantically looked for something to hold on to as the doors of the subway were about to close. A woman and her daughter pushed in right behind me and grabbed on to the pole I couldn't quite reach. The mom, in motherly fashion realized what I was doing and put out her hand, "you can hold my hand of you want to." Her kindness made me smile and the guy I was quite literally shoved up against turned over his shoulder and said "sweetie, I don't think you're going any where."

City nights

New York is a canvas." That's what my roommate said last night as I described to her all the fabulous people I saw on the way home.
The 16 year old boy who was tall and skinny and utterly fabulous with his afro, black turtleneck with the brooch and his yellow studded purse
And the Native American who was such a stark contrast to the men in business suits as he walked down the platform, his long black hair under a worn leather hat, with turquoise jewelry and a briefcase that looked like it had been hand crafted in his well worn jeans and leather boots.
And the trendy man with his graying hair in his combat boots and leather jacket.
And the woman with the afro and the hot pink pea coat accenting her almost lavender colored eyes.

Good fantasy thoughts...

"Anyone can slay a dragon, he told me, but try waking up every morning & loving the world all over again. That's what takes a real hero."
- Brian Andreas

via

It's snowing

Bless my California heart, seeing the first snowfall is truly magical.

The gentle giant

Last night waiting for my train I saw this shadow pass by, looming over me. I turned around and saw this giant of a man. I wasn't the only one who noticed, this woman across the platform looked up at him and back at me. I never understood the term "eyes as big as saucers" until that moment. She looked resigned and went back to resting against the pole, she was about 5ft. I couldn't help but smile as he went and rested on the other side of that pole. I was curious how he was going to fit inside the train car, but alas my train came first, but not before I snapped a picture.

Facts

-hunter boots were the best gift I ever received
-snow is fun when you are inside.
-New Yorkers are resilient
-half the population of New York is pregnant
- children are like postal workers they go to school no matter what the weather is
-personal space does not exist on the subway
-seasons are not mythical creatures, they really do exist
-people are very angry in the mornings
-no one really functions until 10am

Through the storm...

He is Lord.

Church was incredible, 2nd to last service of the day and the line was wrapped around the building still. The Lord is faithful even through the toughest of storms.

Walking into church into the arms of one of my closest friends here in the city I felt the most comfort I have felt all week.

That same friend's new ink, pretty sick!

"The truth about the storms of this life, sometimes survival isn't pretty, but if you keep fighting and going you will get through it."

Psalm 23
-you walk you don't hang out there

"When faced with the storm of sin, rebuild quickly and rebuild differently no need to get familiar with rock bottom"

Through the storm He is Lord, Lord of all.

Halloween cookies

Wednesday, Halloween, I walk through the rotating doors at work.  And there's a maintenance guy standing there and pointing out to people how the plastic had been torn up from the carpet and we needed to be careful.  He points it out to me and then noticed the plate I was carrying and asked, "What were you doing in this storm, baking?"  I answered, "That's exactly what I was doing, I wanted to bring a little happiness our first day back, afterall it is Halloween, do you want one?"  He smiled, a little shocked, "Oh, well, thank you, yes I do.  Now I'm glad that my job was to stand here."  I smiled and said, "oh, well good.  Glad I could help.  Have a good day."

I continued, up the escalators to the elevators, I asked the guy at the front desk if he would like a cookie as well, he said that he would, but could I bring it to him at the end of my day.  I said of course, I would save one for him.  He looked at me, and I asked what time he would be there til, and he said he was doing a double, so until 6pm.  I said ok and started to head for the elevators but he said, "but I'll be at the East bldg."  I said ok and told him,  I know where that is, i'll bring it over.  He asked incredulously, "really?"  I said, "of course." and continued on my way.

I pulled three cookies aside, because I didn't know if he would be alone on duty. So I put them in a bag and at 5pm headed over to the East bldg.  I handed them to him and he said, "you remembered." with a big smile on his face.  I said "Of course, have a good night and enjoy I put in a few extras because I didn't know if other people would be on duty too." He said, " thanks and you too."  As I heard all the whispers from the other people on duty, I smiled and headed home.

The cookies were successful.

The Conversationalist

      The storm has passed, but the damage remains.  It's Halloween and New York is attempting to function again.  South of 40th st is still without power, no signs of it returning.  The only thing on my mind is that I've been given instructions to make it to work if I can, and I can.  The worst thing that happened in my neighborhood was fallen trees, and to be honest the trees that fell actually left us with a beautiful view of central park, so I'm not complaining.  I rushed out of the house with my plate of Halloween cookies in one hand and my purse in the other.  I get to the corner and there is already one girl attempting to flag down any cab.  With the MTA down, cabs are picking up multiple parties and not asking many questions.  All the cabs that pass are full, so I ask her how long she had been standing there, she said about 15mins, so we talk about where we are going and she said if in a joint effort we could snag a cab she would be more than willing to share.  Another 5 mins, nothing, so we decided to head over to the nearest hotel and have them flag one down for us.  I leave her there, wish her goodluck and head to the next corner, I stand there for 5 more mins and finally a gypsy cab stops, I have cash, so I'm not worried.  I get in and tell him the address, as traffic slowly starts crawling, we pull out.  At the first stop light I offer him a cookie, he is very gracious.  And from there we start chatting...

     The cab ride took 2 hours, but by the time we pulled up to my office, I didn't want to get out, I could have chatted with this cab driver, whom I regretfully did not get his name, all day.  We talked about the storm and thankful we were that we were unaffected.  He told me how the day it hit he was supposed to visit a friend down in the area that got hit the hardest but as he was driving down Riverside, he noticed the water rising with no signs of stopping and decided it wasn't such a good idea.  He said he saw some crazies, probably tourists, out on the water taking pictures.  We laughed at how no picture would be worth our lives, but apparently those people thought it was.  Then we talked about where we were both from, me from California and him from West Africa, he said the name once, but I can't recall it.  He told me he had been in NY for 7 years, and when he was growing up he used to skip his English classes because he told his family "I will never need English, why would I need English."  We laughed about how sometimes God changes your plan drastically.  He told me how he was very good at Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics, but in order to pass you also had to be good at English.  So he said, I passed English, to pass my other classes. He also speaks French and a language native to his country.  He told me, how when he first came to New York, he thought that he would become a famous soccer (football) player.  That was his dream growing up and he just believed that was how he was going to make a lot of money.  But that he went and tried out and it wasn't anything that he expected, they ran drills instead of running actually competitions and he didn't think it was a good measure of his skill so he didn't continue on.  He shared with me how he had a dream after that of his mother telling him God will give you skills and will make you rich in this life, but it's not going to be with soccer. We talked about how hard it is to let go of a dream that you've held onto for so long, but how God's plans are always better than our own.  I told him how my brother was a goalie and how I thought he could go on to be a pro, but that's not what he wanted. And how  instead he was coaching while in school.  He told me how his brother went into schooling because of his example and how he excelled.  We talked about how he was in school, hoping to get his PhD and talking with school counselors about continuing school.  When we arrived at our destination I was sad to leave, it was one of the best encounters I have had in New York and one of the longest cab rides of my life, but I was so blessed by our conversation.  When I asked how much, he said "you don't owe me anything, it was just a pleasure talking with you, but if you want, you give me whatever you would normally pay a cabbie for this ride or not really it was just so nice to talk to you."  I already knew I was going to pay him more than the average  cabbie because I had enjoyed the conversation just as much.  I handed him the money and another cookie for the road, he gave me a big smile and said, "Have a great day and a blessed life."  Only in New York. 

Pride and prejudice as it relates to me

As I walked to work today the quote from Elizabeth Bennett that keeps playing over and over again in my head is "I'm rather fond of walking." And in New York, I'm finding that I am too.