I had looked to the New York skyline as symbol of freedom
from my Greyhound’s extra-terrestrial climate, and shortly after scooting over
the Hudson River I was fully immersed in the freedom.
Another one of my favorite people in the world and good
friends, MK, had kindly got a job on the south side of the Empire State
building so his office was my first stop in town. It wasn’t a bad welcome to
town to stare out the window beside his desk and see all of Manhattan and the
distant Statue of Liberty exchange the orange glow of the sun for the dazzling
sparkle of countless city lights. And it sure beat having to struggle with the
touristic herds that are funneled through mandatory cheesy photo booths and ticket
stations to get a view from the observation deck.
But I wasn’t in New York to observe, I was there to experience.
Most of my friends from university had ended up congregating in this concrete jungle
of a town and I was eager to act like fools with them again. So after a brief
run over to Roosevelt Island to drop off my things at MK’s, we zipped on down
to Union Square to see the rest of the gang.
As I recall, we didn’t get up to anything too much that
night; sure we went to a club after the point when we didn’t need to pay cover
charge, didn’t order any drinks (I think one of us even brought his own flask),
and were a complete drain on the quality of the establishment, but we didn’t need to do that much. With just a room and the right combination of people,
it’s possible to have as amazing a time as would be possible on any adventure
in any corner of the planet. There are a few rooms and a few groups of people
peppered around, mainly in Canada and the USA, that have provided me with more
happiness than have entire countries of rooms filled with people.
After a couple of days, I was able to remember that what really
fascinates me about New York is that it truly does have it all. I’ve never seen
a place that has the highs and the lows so seamlessly integrated. A simple commute
through town can demonstrate the variety of the city with ease. After a
delightful brunch with the boys, MK and I hopped on a subway back to Roosevelt
Island. About 3 stops in, the doors opened and a severely disgruntled woman who was
Kung Fu gripping her crotch began Walking Dead shuffling her way towards our car.
The closing doors alarm began to sound and she was able to scurry just quick
enough to make it inside. Instantly, the car filled up with the strongest stale
human urine smell I have ever come across, and I spent 3 days on an Indonesian
ferry that had urine raining down from lifeboats.
At the next stop everybody, except said lady, stood up and
made a break for fresh air and to switch cars. It is however, apparently, New
York etiquette to not warn any of the new passengers about the imminent assault
to their senses. Instead everyone streams past and leaves newcomers to their
own fate. That meant that I was helpless to notify one of the most attractive,
well put-together, purposeful woman I had ever seen from what she was walking
into, and instead could only turn around and watch her sit down across from the Kung Fu
grip and then immediately stand back up and bolt for the far end of the car.
We were all discombobulated from this affair so ended up
missing the right connection and had to take the tramway to Roosevelt Island, instead. So we were lifted from the underbelly of the city, over the yellow
cab-filled streets, and into the sky. Fresh air and snowflakes surrounded us as
we carted across the East River, and the lights from countless skyscrapers,
including the United Nations streamed into the tram.
The next night we had arranged to have a final dinner down
in Union Square before we all needed to go home for the holidays. On the way there I
decided that I should fit in at least a little bit of sightseeing while I was
in town. So I made a loop to see the Christmas tree and skating rink in front
of the Rockefeller Center and lights of Time Square. The illuminated tree in
front of the more brightly illuminated 30 Rock, along with the constant glare
of nearby Times Square’s advertisements were magnificent sights, and the problem
with that was, of course, that people like magnificence. Every attempt at
movement was met with elbow jabs to the side and every peek through a camera’s
viewfinder revealed a stream of people too eager to snap a photo to stay out of mine.
Strolling through Union square to the boys’ place, I passed
by a man standing on a street corner with an entire bottle of whiskey, gaily
getting drunk and telling the world about it. A genuine look of joy was on his
face as he blasted through the bottle and belted out his thoughts. After
meeting up and heading out to dinner, the man was still there happier and
prouder than ever in his choice of activity for the night.
I was pretty pleased with our slightly tamer plans for the
evening of just eating some food. I spent about 10 times my average cost for a
meal over the past year, but it was a special occasion. It’s awfully handy having
friends dotted around the world when you’re travelling, but it’s awfully inconvenient
at every other time, and I was just days away from being in that other time.
As we parted ways and headed to the subway, we passed by the
same man whose multi-hour drink-a-thon was coming to an abrupt end when the
police showed up to ask him what in god’s name he was doing. As we walked by I
could see the man giving the cops an innocently puzzled
is-this-not-normal-behaviour face.
My personal New York celebration also came to a crashing and
depressing halt on my last day there. Everybody was flooding from town for the
holidays, MK had already flown back to Zimbabwe and now I was in New York,
alone (aside from the 16 million other people). Not only were my friends
skipping town but my journey was nearly over. My entire way of life would
be coming to an end the next morning when I would be standing in the Toronto
bus station. I thought my idea of going around the world was a pretty good one,
and I had enjoyed it. But now it would be all over? Just like that?