Another New York Story

I woke up early today to make my way downtown to a job interview. It’s a teaching gig for a preschool. Over the phone only two days ago I seemed to have really impressed the person who was hiring. She told me “wow, you seem awesome!” I was scheduled to meet her in Battery Park at 10 a.m. I live in East Harlem now, so that was no small commute. It would require about 45 minutes to take the Q train to Times Square, transfer to the 2 train, then walk about 15 minutes from Chambers Street. I just moved here about two weeks ago and working in the city is new to me, but “this is the New York city experience,” I tell myself. I get stress-stomach aches so I try to keep myself calm. Relax. I’m qualified for this job, there’s no reason to be so nervous. I make myself some oatmeal and notice I have just enough time to run to the Q train entrance on 96th and 2nd. For some reason my lock is fighting me on the way out, which is weird, I haven’t had any problems with my door before. I finally manage to get the key to turn and I head downstairs with my acoustic guitar and a water bottle. Of course, when I get there I hear that there’s delays today because of a signalling error at Times Square station. “Oh well,” I think to myself, “this is the New York City experience.” Finally, the train comes. It’s not too crowded and I manage to find a seat. The train ride is pretty uneventful. I put in my earbuds and listen to some music as I think about my upcoming interview and hope I’ll still get there early. My transfer at Times Square arrives and once again I am able to secure a seat. Chambers Street. I’m familiar with this area because I attend school all the way downtown. I’ve passed this stop dozens of times, but this is my first time actually getting off at it.

When I’m about two stops from my destination, I see I got an email from the lady I’m scheduled to meet with in 20 minutes. She’s running late and wants to push back our meeting by another half hour. There’s not much I can do as I’m already pretty close to the destination and I’m too far to go back home, so I email her back and say “that’s okay!” and decide to wait for a while. Besides, it’s a nice day out. She told me to meet her in the park, so that's where I’ll go. As I’m walking over I decide to call my mom and update her on what’s happening. My parents were excited for me when I told them about how well the phone interview went. I finally get to the park and find an empty bench adjacent to the kids playground where I’m supposed to meet the hiring manager. This commute was not a small task, but there’s another location they have that’s much easier to get to, so I’m hoping to inquire about that site once we meet. There’s so many kids out with their babysitters and parents today. It’s been awhile since I taught lessons, but I never forgot how happy it made me to make a difference in a child’s life. Seeing these excited toddlers running around the park reminds me of how much I’ve missed this line of work. Some birds land just beside me and I hear them calling out to one another. Then a massive squirrel and I become acquainted as I continue to wait and they scavenge for food. I noticed they found a piece of popcorn, probably dropped by a kid on the playground. We lock eyes as it meticulously eats the single popped kernel. I think we’re friends now.

It is now 10:30 and there is no sign of the hiring manager. She mentioned in her email to me on the train that she does not have a phone, which was bizarre but I was more concerned with the fact that I cannot call her than I am about the strange nature of this arrangement. I look through the thread of messages to see if maybe I’m in the wrong place, though this was supposed to be the spot. There’s another location that may have been the rendezvous about ten minutes away, so noting that it’s already been ten minutes passed when we were supposed to meet, what’s another ten more? I walk towards this new spot that is even farther from the subway, but remind myself, “this is the New York City experience.” I make it to the new rendezvous and wait another twenty minutes, but no one shows. Suddenly I’m starting to realize how sketchy this whole plan was from the get-go. I call my parents and tell them I got stood up. Back to the drawing board I guess. Maybe the next job I interview for will be hopefully closer to my apartment. My mom was really upset for me. My dad was upset too. Strangely though, even though I got stood up, my mood hasn’t fallen. As I hang up the phone from my conversation with my dad, I see that another member of the preschool emailed me saying that the hiring manager should be there any minute now. I’ve already been waiting for over an hour by this point, so I decide to email her back and say that I’m no longer interested. I check my phone for the quickest way home.

I start walking towards the Bowling Green station. It really is a beautiful day out. The World Trade Center towers above the world without a single cloud in the sky to obscure its beautiful might. I always used to look to the World Trade Center if I got lost when I was still living in the student dorms. It was close enough that I could figure out where I was if I got close enough. It’s funny how now it’s like seeing an old friend. I’ve been lonely for the past two weeks since I moved out when all of my friends went back to their hometowns for the Summer. I’m alone uptown, so the sense of nostalgia uplifted me. The 5 train comes and I secure a seat once again. I’m feeling a little defeated, but my spirits aren’t quite destroyed. I reach into my pocket to grab my earbuds once again but I’m alarmed by a man who punches the window of my train car. He isn’t wearing a mask either, and he looks visibly angry. I look for an exit but the doors close and I’m stuck on this train with the aggressive man. I turn my music off and decide that my listening experience can wait. I’m not alone on the train and he’s sitting on the opposite end. So long as he doesn’t get up to walk near me I should be okay. A lot of people were startled by his punch and entrance to this train, so I figure I have the benefit of safety in numbers. I’m sitting across from an old man in a rastacap. He has an amazing white beard that falls below his mask. His eyes look tired, but his soul seems at peace. After another stop, a second older man in an amazing shirt sits next to him. He’s definitely older than me by a few decades, but he seems younger than the man in the rastacap. His mask was a blue N95. I’ve only ever seen them in white, so I thought the color variation was pretty cool. By this point I had already forgotten about the aggravated aggressive man on the other side of the car. He seems to have calmed down.

I listen to the ricketing of the train on the tracks and the rocking of the 5 works in a perfect motion. Suddenly I remember how much earlier I woke up today and I’m feeling a little drowsy. I close my eyes for a moment but open them again to the sight of two Chicanos walking into my car, one with an acoustic guitar himself and the other with an accordion. The second man in the amazing shirt jolts up in his seat and claps once, visually very excited about these men’s presence. His clap startles me, but I quickly realize that it was an expression of glee, nothing malicious. He must have been waiting all day for some music. The Latino duo starts singing and the man across from me is bobbing up and down in perfect sync. I start to smile and laugh a little and remember why I moved here in the first place. I have one more stop on the 5 until I have to transfer and now my mood is back on track to feeling great. I don’t even care that I got stood up anymore. A family of three walks onto the train. There’s a young girl, no older than 6 years of age, and what looks like her older teenage sister. A lady who I’m assuming is her mother is left standing, and suddenly I think of my own mother who would have given me and my siblings the seat if we were on the subway together. I only have one stop left anyway, so I get up and tell the mother she can have my seat. She’s wearing a mask, but I can tell she smiled. I feel good brightening someone’s day as the music duo and the man across from me had just done moments ago.

I get off the 5 and transfer to the 6 for my final stop on the subway. The train car is mostly empty so I easily find a seat. Before the doors close, another Chicano music group walks in, but this one is a three-piece. I notice that the boy with the accordion was noticeably younger than the other two men, one with a guitar and one simply singing. I wonder if this is a family outfit. The younger member of the trio and the lead singing man are to my left and the guitarist is singing to my right. Their voices blend on the noisy train to make it sound like there’s music coming from all around me. The music of this city. “This is the New York City experience!”

I tip the trio and start heading back towards my apartment. It’s such a beautiful day out, so I decide to keep walking a bit and order some food. I walk home with some pizza and a refreshed feeling. Today started out as a bust, but I’m feeling hopeful. I turn my key in the door and ponder at the hundreds of lives I must have passed today. I love it here, I think I’ll stay awhile longer.