Observation of New York

As I sat on the bustling New York subway I noticed the word ‘CHAOS’ etched in large block letters on the
plexy glass window of the right sliding door. Many of the windows had been tagged with nicknames or gang
symbols in either cursive or block letters. A woman sitting across from me had two large shopping bags from big
name brand stores like ‘Gucci’ and ‘Lord & Taylor’s’. She kept staring at me like I was some demon child which
wasn’t fit to be in her presence, and even though I was staring at the graphittied windows I could still see her
glaring at me out of the corner of my eye.
As the ‘N’ train came to a halt and the tagged doors opened horizontally in stepped two large black
boys. They sat diagonally from my seat, so for my own entertainment I checked them out a little. The one closest
to the doors was tall and starkly and somewhat chubby in a cute sort of way. I figured they had been or were on
their way to playing basketball for he had one at his side and would bounce it on the floor every once and while.
He had big diamond studs pierced in both ears and, it I remember correctly, he had a large husky looking coat
that clashed with his sleek silver sweats. And I have to admit that I found him rather intriguing and attractive. His
friend I don’t remember in quite so much detail, but I do remember that was just as good looking. He was
somewhat shorter and wore a bright yellow shirt. But alas their stop came and they removed themselves at the
downtown city stop.
After a couple more stops, I too found myself getting off the ‘N’ train to go hunting for the nearest
Abercrombie and Fitch store at the Wallstreet stop. After climbing three flights of stairs to reach the exit/entrance
of the subway I found myself standing face to face with the New York Stock Exchange building, which was
surrounded by many other embassy buildings and businesses. In the midst of the buildings I felt like an ant lost
on a picnic flat crawling through a row of towering salt and peppershakers. As I waltzed on down the sidewalk, I
found myself dodging cars, for the sidewalks and roads were under construction because of the twin towers
falling. Much of the debris fell over that section of town and crushed the roads. I walked farther down and saw
this magnanimous statue of a firefighter on one knee with flowers surrounding it; many people stopped to take a
picture of this miraculous statue. It was cold and wind was blowing hard, I thought I was going to have wind burn
on my cheeks by the time I finally made it to the store, but it didn’t happen.
After the venturing the store and buying a shirt, I went to a place called ‘Johns’—which is a pizzeria—before
heading off to Time Square and seeing my favorite Broadway show RENT. RENT was amazing, when I was
younger I had only heard the soundtrack and really liked it and really wanted to see the live show. But my
parents wouldn’t hear of it, since I was only 12 and too young to fully understand what the play was about. Now
that I am older I could understand it quite well; in fact I got it so well that I almost cried, it was a very powerful
story.
After a long day of seeing the Science Center, many different people that seem to dress and appear the
same; drinking a badly made Irish Crème Mocha; going to the bathroom in a McDonalds bathroom with pee all over the
floor; and walking many miles just to find an Abercrombie &
Fitch store; I was worn out. I could now go back to my Aunt and Uncle’s house to get some sleep, that is if the
neighbors wouldn’t talk loudly and some other neighbors would sit outside drinking booze and talk to people that
walked by. Of course I could have closed the window, but it was hot, so I put up with the jabber and fell into a
deep sleep refreshing myself for the long trip home.