Driving in Brooklyn, or Manhattan, or even driving close to them makes my blood pressure go up. The people here are rude and impatient. I fear, too, that I am becoming one of them. If you see happen to be driving in Oneonta or in the north country near Madrid, NY and someone is riding your tail honking if you slow down for a yellow light or don't start moving before the red turns to green, it might be me after a year in Brooklyn.
Last night, as I was bringing my fiancé home I noticed how much more impatient I've become. I also noticed some aggression. Stopped at a traffic light on a two way street with one lane of traffic in each direction, I noticed a man who had been tailgating me and had funky lights on his BMW, pull up on my right hand side. That is the lane for people turning right, for those of you who have not takes a driving test in a while. He/She doesn't have a signal light on. I decide that I'm not going to let him in. As the light turns green, we both speed forward. He wanted to pass me on the right. He didn't get by, but ended up passing me on the left causing a chorus of honking from both sides. AND, the guy ended up in front of me only one car for another six blocks before turning off. He really needed to get ahead of me by one car, risking his life to do that. Many of the people that do this (I assume men, but may be wrong) are driving cars that cost more than I'll probably ever spend on a car, so they end up risking not only injury to themselves, but also accidents on their fancy cars.
I also see people with normal cars that they have tricked out. There was a dodge charger that he had painted as a transformer car. I don't really understand it. I guess I'd rather fly to Paris (feel free to buy me a ticket if you want to) than spend that kind of money on a car. I just want a car that works consistently and has leg room. I know the leg room thing may seem odd, but you try being 6'3" and driving a tiny car.
At a party on Friday night, I ran into that friend who had been living with me on my sofa. He hugged me and said hi. That was about it. No update on his housing situation. Fortunately, a friend at the party let me know that he is living in a safe place. I didn't get information where, but at least he is in a safe place.
The rest of this weekend has consisted of thrift shopping, a better church, and some time with my betrothed and cooking some beef stew and pumpkin muffins.
Lessons in thrift shopping in NYC:
1.) Avoid manhattan unless you want to pay close to full retail prices.
2.) Be patient, things are very disorganized.
3.) If you love a fabric on a pair of dress pants, it's probably mistakenly a women's pair mixed into the men's stuff.
4.) Try everything on because in this city, people are obsessed with tailoring things into their own size and written size means nothing.
5.) Freeze for three days or dry in a dryer on high heat for at least 20 minutes in case there are bugs.
6.) Live a little. The prices are cheap enough in Brooklyn that if you see something fun, buy it and wear it.
and, finally
7.) If you live in a small apartment like mine, don't buy too much stuff. You already have enough s*&t.
As I wait for my pumpkin muffins to cool, I'm grateful today for finding a fun church, for warm food and a warm apartment, time with my love, and the fact that every day I keep finding money on the sidewalk.
No comments:
Post a Comment