The results of cultural expectations. Walked by the open faced shop three times. Displayed in full view were the biggest, whitest, plumpest scallops, each the size of a dollar piece. The price per pound was terrific. What I kept noticing about the fish shop/stall on this particular street in Chinatown was that it didn’t smell fishy. I liked that. Convinced I could not go wrong, I bought a pound, laid in on ice for the trip home. As this treat is best served up right away and lunch time was still an option, I washed them, dried them, heated the pan to sear them and placed them neatly side-by side in the light oil. I turned them over gently, cut them in half to quickly sear the inside and when all of this was done, placed one on my small plate. Could not wait to get it to my mouth; the succulent, ripe treat from the sea. OMG! They tasted as if they had been soaked in solvent. That was why the shop didn’t smell! All the scallops and other items had been preserved in some sort of chemical bath to keep them picture perfect, odor free. However now they were infused with the taste of the chemicals. Sadly, those in the pan, and the other half in the fridge joined the flushed goldfish brigade.
A Statistic.
The sign in the subway car today read: ‘Don’t become a statistic 146 people were struck by trains in 2011. 47 were killed.’ It was the phrase ‘struck by trains’ that struck me. You don’t just step in front of a train. It’s not like at a RR crossing, where you can step in front of an oncoming locomotive. To be struck by a subway train you first have to fall about 6 feet directly below the edge of the platform to the rails. Either you fall or someone pushes you. But you have to make a bit of work of it.
Yellow Cabs
NYC code is that Yellow Cabs owned by fleet operators have to be replaced every three years; individual owners, every five. Just read this in New York Magazine. Next year a new concept Yellow Cab is coming and the company awarded the contract was Nissan.
The Blind
Their laughter was infectious, but it was the hustle and bustle at the front of the bus that was eye-catching. Their walking sticks combined with the carried packages and bags made the bustle. Their sticks, white and collapsible, indicated that both of them were blind. They rode a few blocks, and then with continued laughter exited, one holding the arm of the other as they went on down the street, the blind leading the blind.
editorial note: two wrongs…
1. There are adverts on the inside of the bus. They are however, not consistent and are way beyond eye level. Seldom noticed.
2. the 2×4 constructed boxes around the trees in the village were not for the 4th of July. They are to protect the trees from major street construction taking place now.
Nubs
That’s all that was left on the earth in the pot. The sort of nub found after deer have feasted on the plant. Only these were the fragile lobelia sprouts that were growing from the seed packets, 2 flights up on the fire escape. I never saw the culprit. I’m hoping it was a bird, any other creature is too much to contemplate. But the end result is: some thing feasted on baby-lobeila in all the pots for a tasty one time meal! Yesterday I purchased ivy and a philodendron and brought the pots to the inside of the window. Now try to get at them, ha!
Adverts
Noticed: when sitting in the bus on the sidewalk side, people walking, read the adverts on the side of the bus. I then realized there are no advert signs inside the buses. On the subway, the adverts are inside the cars, but there is nothing on the outside. Why?
Sheer Beauty – 2
Sometimes the architecture is just worth the look.
Not on My Watch
They were somewhere in the age range of 12-14, 3 boys and 1 girl who was the eldest, walking ahead of me on a Village Street on a lazy afternoon. That one of the boys ran the buzzer of an apartment house as he passed didn’t really faze me. That another of the boys pilfered a sugar packet off an outside restaurant table wasn’t what made me take action either. It was after he emptied the packet down his throat and tossed the paper in the street that I felt compelled to say something. ‘Next time, throw the paper in the trash container not on the pavement’. He tried to look away and the girl thinking I was making trouble, tried to scurry them along. To her, ‘Listen, that he took the sugar, is between him and the restaurant, but littering, that’s between him and me and I would like that he not do it again’. She didn’t know about the sugar and started to berate him for the stealing. I said, You can go after him for that, but I hope he hears me, don’t litter. That’s all.’ Did it help? Who knows. Maybe he’ll get the greater message: you never know who sees what you do. Take note.
How Do You Distinguish?
Read a book, saw a play, in this case, about the traffic in young girls for the sex trade, by unscrupulous men. In the past have noticed the infrequent street walker but demographics change when it’s summer in the City: lots of tourists, and lots of folk away. The first couple that brought the question to mind was seen two days ago at this entrance/exit to the subway that now has been identified in my mind as possibly sketchy. He, not tall, very fit – trim to a remarkable degree- was leading her tall, thin, 20’s or 30’s?, with a cane and in passing perhaps somewhat disoriented. What caught my eye was the lack of compassion on his face. Then last night, boarding after me on the subway at another station. She was foreign, giddy not a great physical specimen, not noticeably well-dressed, perhaps 20’s. He was better dressed, great voice, and completely solicitous to her conversation and her chatter, because that’s what she was doing, chattering. She gave off the energy that she was enthralled with him; somewhat as if she was unable to believe her luck in being with such a divine creature. His eyes when we exchanged glances, were more receptive. Where these just random dates? Need I question the coupling of the handsome male with the lesser female? I see it frequently in older couples, why the suspicion around younger ones? In both cases they were from different races and/or ethnic backgrounds.
Just a thought