METROPOLITAN DIARY
Sticky Situation
Dear Diary:
As I sat finishing a burger on the Dumbo pier while waiting for the ferry to come in, I watched tourists taking selfies and enjoying burgers of their own. We all were feeling happy and free.
I watched a sparrow hop toward a translucent, melted, gummy-candy blob that was stuck to the pier and peck its tiny beak into it.
To my surprise, it stayed there. No matter how much the bird flapped its wings, it was stuck. It tried to use its feet to leverage itself free, but only wound up getting its feet stuck too.
Someone must help this bird, I thought.
I stood up to look for someone who might come to the rescue, but no one else seemed to notice what was happening. My heart started pounding when I realized I was that someone.
I went over and spilled some seltzer on the birds beak, which allowed it to raise its head. I tried pouring a little on its feet, but they were too stuck for it to make a difference.
Thinking of all the reasons one might not touch a bird, I got out my handkerchief anyway and scooted the sparrow gently from behind. The bird popped off the blob and flew away.
My boat pulled in and I got on, just like everyone else, except that I felt like a hero.
Michele Mirisola
Out-of-Towner
Dear Diary:
My college roommate grew up in the suburbs in Massachusetts and moved to Texas shortly afterward. Years later, he came to visit me in New York for a weeklong stay.
I picked him up at the airport in Newark, and as we drove back to my apartment and caught up on each others lives, we talked about what we would do and where we would go during his stay.
It quickly became evident that the idea of relying on mass transit and walking for day-to-day tasks and activities was new to him.
As we pulled into my buildings garage, he asked whether he should leave his jacket in the car for later.
You dont understand, I said. We dont see the car again until you go back to the airport.
Brian Jaffe
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/19/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html