Surprisingly, Bryon...

Here are two things you may not have known about New York City.

1) New Yorkers are actually super friendly. I present four evidences for my claim.

a) We are on the subway. Super looks down to check the map, having already figured out the best way to go but wanting to refresh his memory about the stops. The man on the seat below immeadiately begins to tell him the best way to get to where we are going. Super has said a total of four things, but we have found out that this man is from Columbia, has only been back once, loves New York a lot, has retired from the NYPD, and knows exactly how we should get to our destination regardless of where our car is parked. He was the kindest man I've ever conversed with on a subway, excluding Super who looks very much at home and very handsome on a subway.

b) Super and I exit the subway and head for the stairs. I ask what street we are headed to again. "Forty-second," he says. Upon hearing the name of a street, a woman in front of us whirls around as if we'd tapped her on the shoulder and tells us, "That way! Go through the tunnel and up." We went through the tunnel, finding our unsolicited counsel to be just what we needed at just the right moment. 

c) Standing up from the table in a crowded restaurant, I sneeze into my coat. From three tables over, a woman says, "God bless you." I feel blessed, though unable to locate the source of my well-wisher since it could be anyone of these people I do not know.

d) Beka and I make a break from the car to obtain frosties at the nearest Wendy's. Beka accidentally cuts in line. The man at the front of the line warmly directs her forward as he's still studying the menu. He's always lived in the Bronx he said, and every year he thinks he'll go to the ball drop in Times Square but always decides against it. "They say not to burn your bridges in things," he tell us. "But if I ever get a chance to get out of New York, I'm burning that bridge down."

2) On Long Island, they have squirrels. I forgot how beautiful squirrels are when they move. Their tails rippling gracefully. As I've been watching them out the window, they just get cuter and cuter to me.  

So, if you'll forgive me, I will continue to add some retrospective posts and pictures about my time in New York last week. Here are pictures of some friendly New Yorkers, namely Super's family. His dad took these lovely pictures for us.

Very happy New Yorkers, indeed.

Handsome, ain't he?

Coat. Courtesy of Aneka.