My oldest son and I had an appointment in Manahattan this morning, so it was wake early and move quickly. The turnpike was a mess because of an accident, but we finally made it through the Lincoln tunnel to our destination.
I LOVE Manhattan. I would welcome spending a year or so just living in the city with my crew. What an energy that city has about it. So many great things to see and do. I could be a taxi driver flooring it through the crowded streets while honking the horn.
Anyway, after our appt was over, we grabbed a sandwich at one of the deli vendors around the corner on Fifth Avenue. The Moroccan gentleman asked my son if he was from Sweden. My son smiled and just shook his head no. I told the man that we were from Jersey. He laughed in surprise and said, “Jersey, really?”. He thought because of my son’s coloring that he was Scandinavian. Following that laugh, I noticed this same man’s sweatshirt said “Phillips Academy, Andover”. Now, being a researcher of elite private schools I immediately recognized his sweatshirt and asked him if he had attended this school. He said “no” and didn’t even know where the school was located or know of its history. He didn’t even know where the sweatshirt came from. I almost offered to buy the sweatshirt off of his back because I loved the look of it, but I thought that may have been crossing the lines a bit.
We ended our NY morning at a coffee house on Fifth Avenue. I believe the name was Toby’s, lovely cafe decorated in all white with yummy cappuccinos. However, the nice Brazilian lady standing in line behind us touched by son’s hair a couple of times while we were waiting for our drinks. She just smiled at me and said he had such pretty hair. My son looked at me as if to ask was this okay. I assured him that it was after I chatted with her about the price of jeans in Brazil versus NY.
We returned home for the afternoon for activities, and I picked up burgers from our local sports bar for dinner so I could avoid cooking.
I may take a break from writing for a few days to regroup with the family.
Until then…