METROPOLITAN DIARY
Preparing
Dear Diary:
I was walking slowly around Stuy Town, fully immersed in my phone as I prepared for a job interview.
I was so absorbed in what I was doing that I almost bumped into an older man who was out for a walk. He looked at me with a touch of disapproval.
“I’m so sorry,” I’m said. “I’m interviewing for my dream job tomorrow, and all I can do is prepare.”
He continued on, resuming his brisk pace. Then he turned his head over his shoulder. He had a smile on his face.
“Put me down as a reference,” he said. “Good luck!”
— Melissa Ertl
Odd-Looking Birds
Dear Diary:
I was at a thrift shop on the Upper West Side when I saw a set of two framed, unsigned drawings of birds.
The drawings were clearly the work of the same artist. They were of odd-looking birds with huge, wide eyes done in charcoal.
I liked one but not the other. The one I liked was of a single bird resembling an emu that was staring off to the side.
The other drawing was of two birds that looked like dodos. They had similar expressions and were facing forward, as if to stare at the viewer. I just couldn’t see hanging that drawing on my wall and looking at it every day.
Since they were obviously by the same artist, I felt funny about breaking up the set, so I didn’t.
Stopping at the shop again a few days later, I was surprised to see that the drawing I liked was still there but that the other one was gone. Someone else must have seen them, liked the drawing I did not and wasn’t worried about breaking up the set.
I immediately bought the drawing that remained.
— Michael Fishman
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/24/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html
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