METROPOLITAN DIARY
Yellow Handlebars
Dear Diary:
Yellow handlebars, blue frame, golden rubber-rimmed tires and a rear rack. Forty years old and in mint condition.
A Craigslist ad directed me to her during a summer at home. Bike shortage no more: I had found my wheels.
There was no room for the bike in my Hell’s Kitchen apartment — there was barely enough for my bed — so out on the street she stayed. It was my first mistake as a bike owner in the city.
Ready for a 7 a.m. spin, I pulled on my spandex, filled my water bottle and jogged downstairs. In the bike’s place was a lock that had been cut in half like a stick of butter.
I began to scour lost-bike pages on Instagram and websites obsessively. In the meantime, I found a second set of wheels. Two months passed, and I continued to scroll.
At one point, a picture caught my eye: dozens of bikes piled up under an overpass. The caption said they had been taken to the 20th Precinct.
I looked more closely, and there it was: yellow handlebars, blue frame, golden rubber-rimmed tires and a rear rack.
Now I have two bikes in my Hell’s Kitchen apartment. Who needs a bed anyway?
— Hunter Travers
Jingling Keys
Dear Diary:
After a pickup at school in Manhattan, I rode a rush-hour F to Queens with my daughters.
The train was packed. The baby started screaming. There was a collective groan among the other passengers.
When toys failed to pacify her, I jingled my keys. That made her squeal with laughter, but she would wail when I stopped for even a second.
By the time we got to Jackson Heights, the train had started to empty out. It was silent except for the keys’ rhythmic jangle.
A new passenger got on.
“What’s with the keys?” he shouted, not holding back on the expletives.
I stopped mid-jingle, but then other people jumped to my defense.
“Don’t listen to him!”
“Jingle away!”
“Go ahead, lady, jingle!”
One man who had been riding the train the whole way put his hand to his heart.
“You are a beautiful mother,” he said.
I gave the keys one last shake. The baby was fast asleep.
— Jess deCourcy Hinds
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/12/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html
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