Although I am often jarred from my internal world into the suffocating, over-crowded, rude and inconsiderate, urine-stinking, pushy world of New York City, there are days where the city is so darned charming that I can’t help but to be so thankful for my experiences in it.
“Bodegas,” the Dominican word for “Corner Stores,” are literally that, on each corner, offering soda, chips, cigarettes, and various household items. They also sometimes have live-in cats that the frequenters of the bodega can reach down and pet while perusing the chip aisle and debating between Pringles or Lay’s. Tonight, on my walk home from the subway, I spotted such a cat sitting outside of a bodega that does not sell cigarettes (that’s how I mentally categorize them), and I stopped in my rushed path home to reach down and pet the soft, grey cat. I crouched so that I could reach the cat better and she rubbed against my legs, snuck under my skirt, emerged from under my right leg, and climbed into my lap. So, there I was, crouching in the middle of the sidewalk with a purring cat in my lap who kept rubbing her head against my chin and kneading the side of my leg with her front paws in ecstasy. Feeling that I was in the way of others on the street, I stood up and made kiss noises at the cat. She reached out her paws and put them over my shoe as if giving them a hug, then she placed her head on the top of my foot and purred even louder. I laughed and said, “I have to go, baby!” and started walking down the street where she ran in front of me and looked up with her round, green eyes, and so I crouched back down and let her sit in my lap for another 10 minutes or so while making conversation in Spanish about how awesome the cat was and how sweet she was and how she loves people and people love her.
When I picked her up from my lap the second time she smelled something on the cement and became preoccupied with whatever that was, and I said goodnight to the man and to the cat and walked home with an extra bounce in my step.
Other great New York City things from today:
1. The 30-something black man listening to Bob Marley and knitting a pink scarf on the subway and our shared smile.
2. The Polish woman who touched my elbow and asked me how to get the B train.
3. The contagious smile of the Hispanic woman waiting for the bus, and when I allowed her to get on the bus ahead of me, the bus driver nodded his head at me, smiled, and asked me how I was doing.
4. The changing of the leaves in the parks, mostly to orange, but I’m sure there will soon be much variation
5. Laughing with acquaintances over cigarettes and wishing there were more than 15 minutes between classes.
“Is New York City really like a grave-yard they all ask me, and I say ‘no, that was last week, but man, that was in the past.’”
[...] things about New York: Cats on the street, smoking, leaves turning in the parks. [Noisy [...]
dood.
That last quote. You are something.
You are amazing! My wonderful friend!