the good, the bad, and the taxi

Today was a day of firsts. For the first time I got an ID made that doesn't make me shove the card in the furthest pocket of my wallet out of fear I will be connected with the unsightly creature in the photo (a.k.a. me at sixteen). I explored New York by myself for the first time, covering all over Union and Washington Squares, taking everything in that makes New York- New York. The architecture is beautiful, the city is alive, the shops and vendors and restaurants are as variant as the faces that occupy them, which is of course the real infrastructure of New York. People from all walks of life, hundreds of different countries and all fifty states, people from London, to L.A., to Lafayette claim the city as their own- and justly so. Oh, and I left my cell phone in a taxi for the first time today.

Yes. You read it right. I left my phone in a taxi. Then had to figure out if and where there was a pay phone, and dig for quarters. Needless to say not such a fun adventure but then those silly people of New York go on out and surprise you to make your day a little better. First there was Renee- the taxi driver (not the missing phone taxi driver), who felt bad for me and let me pick music out on his iPod to listen to then followed up his wonderful car conversation and pretty decent taste in music with his card, telling me to call if I ever needed him or his taxi for anything. And secondly there was Kyle, who works at the AT&T store and has totally changed my opinion on the workers of above said store. He marveled at my y'alls and yes ma'ams and made sure my new phone was in working order before I left the store. In short the entire process was annoying but led to a successful ending, so all's well that ends well right? And today ended excellently; with more triumph over that tricky subway and dinner with M and her friends K, E, E, and E, and an amazing performance by the New York ballet company that left my mind stumped over the precision, detail, and beauty that exists in the human body when intertwined with passion, art and music. So on that note (ha how clever?) good night to all and to all a good night.

-Mandy