we are on our way to the doc's for a post op visit, and the thing i'm dreading the most? getting there.
i'm one of those new yorkers who flies around the streets, weaving in and out of traffic and pedestrians like a nascar racer, shooting glares at tourists that get in my way. ah, how the tables have turned. i currently move at a snail's pace, arm in arm with r, now the recipient of those dirty looks. the lights change two steps into the avenue wide crosswalks. even when we have a walk sign, turning cars honk at us to hurry it up. throngs of high school kids barrel down the street towards us like we're a mirage. oh, and the worst? PARENTS WITH STROLLERS. to be specific, new york parents with strollers. they hate us. apparently they have the market cornered on taking up the sidewalk. we played a game of tortoise and slower-tortoise with a family down one full block, politely stopping for them each time they decided to speed up. after the third stop and glare from the mother unit, r set his teeth and led me down the middle of the sidewalk with me grinning all the way. all the very, very long way.
it's given me a new perspective on life in NY. when i'm back up to full speed, you won't catch me using it against other peeps. i don't know how the elderly or infirm handle it every day. or hell, the people walking slowly that look perfectly fine. maybe they just, you know, had surgery, and you should not shoot them the look of death.
today i've chosen the bus as the path of least resistance. (yes, that's right mom & dad. subways have many stairs, cabs have many potholes. oona no bouncy right now.)
rant over!
I hope you're up to your regular speed soon! It must be very frustrating to have people be so impatient. Of course, when I moved to the midwest I found myself yelling at all of the other cars to GO FASTER FOR THE LOVE OF PETE. I'd like to say I've mellowed in the three years we've been out here, but that would be a lie.
ReplyDeleteHad to laugh at this one! I grew up in West Texas, where life moved fairly slow. Then I moved to SW China, where life moved even slower. Then I moved to So. Cal, where life moves almost as fast at NY (so I hear) and now back in Central Texas, where life is slower. Its hard to adjust, for sure. My experience has been, after living in so many different speed zones, slower is better, whether your body, or your mind, thinks it needs it or not.
ReplyDeleteKeep the slow speed, Oona, even when you are ready for regular speed. Its worth just watching everyone else and their hurriedness.
Hope the check-up went well!
Oona, the bus? Just tell the cab driver you'll give him a $10 tip minus a dollar for every pot hole he hits. You'll have the smoothest ride of your life.
ReplyDeleteWhile recuperating from shoulder surgery (at the very same NYC hospital) my doctor gave me an arm sling and told me to wear it every time I was in public even if I didn't need to just to keep people from bumping into me. Maybe you should wear a similar warning device to keep those wild New York pedestrians and even wilder parents with strollers at bay. ;)
When we came to visit I noticed another sidewalk obstacle trailing the dreaded parents with strollers -- kids following along on Razor scooters! ARGHHHH!
GET WELL SOON and until then be ever vigilant!
XOXOXOXOX
Big Daddy
Oh I used to be a New Yorker too!!! (lived there from 2000 to 2005) I´m actually going to participate in a colective exhibition in a Soho Gallery in Dec. with my Fridas yeeeey you can be my representative for that!!!
ReplyDeleteI totally understand you about the stroller!!! they are weapons of mass distruction in my opinion!!!! :)
get better soon and keep taking it easy.... is ok to be piano, piano!!!
Want us to lend you one of our pit bulls??? I guarantee they'll keep their distance, lol--(don't tell anyone they're actually sweethearts)
ReplyDeleteI think that's one of the many reasons I'm glad I do not live in New York... Prague and Brno are quite enough for me.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll get much better soon! I mysteriously missed the previous two posts (I'm afraid I was much too pre-occupied with my own life), so at least now I'm joining the group of online friends who wish you good health...
HA! looks like everyone's racing! i love hearing all these stories and picturing everyone in their different zones.
ReplyDeleteperhaps i should strap a pit bull round my hips as a warning device. while repeating myself to go piano, piano (does that mean slowly? i'm in love with it)
thanks for the wishes again everyone :) it went well!
AND WELCOME BACK E TO THE G!!!
Heh, sorry to disappoint you, but piano means quietly, not slowly. If you're talking about music, that is.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, if you try to walk quietly, it might make you walk slowly as well. :D
i think i like quietly even better :)
ReplyDelete