METROPOLITAN DIARY
Disco Ball
Dear Diary:
I boarded a flight from Miami to New York after a particularly depressing day and then spent the next three hours rehashing the awfulness of it all.
Miraculously, we arrived at La Guardia at 8 p.m., as scheduled. I practically crawled off the plane and made my way to a long taxi line. Eventually, it was my turn, and I got into a cab. After a minute or two, the driver asked if I liked music.
I said that I did, and he turned on the radio. When I said I was enjoying it, he suddenly cranked up the volume and a light show began.
The cab, I noticed, had a miniature disco ball hanging from the inside roof, and the driver had a cow bell that he was striking in time to the music.
The flashing inside and outside the cab created a spectacle that made other drivers we passed look at us with surprise and glee. Horns honked, thumbs went up and laughter ensued.
I sang, laughed and bounced joyfully all the way home. What started as one of the worst days of my life ended up as one of the best.
Thank you, Zach.
— Marjorie Purnick
Fruit Chips
Dear Diary:
A man carrying grocery bags gets on a No. 2 train at 72nd Street and sits down. He takes a plastic container of dried fruit chips out of a bag and struggles unsuccessfully for several minutes trying to open it.
Frustrated, he looks up. A woman in business attire who is sitting across from him and has been watching him struggle reaches into her purse and pulls out a nail file.
Give it to me, she says.
The man hands over the container. The woman opens it easily with the nail file and hands it back.
He offers her some of the chips. She accepts, and they munch away as the subway rolls on.
— Julie Blackburn
Sunday Brunch
Dear Diary:
On a Sunday afternoon in July, my friend Dolores and I went to Jimmy’s Grand Cafe in the Bronx to celebrate our friendship and the life of my mother, who had recently died.
When we arrived, we encountered two nice men. Dolores teased them about taking our parking space. When we were seated in the bar area, we noticed the same men at a table near ours.
Dolores and I sat on high stools that overlooked Bruckner Boulevard. I had an omelet with Cheddar cheese and tomatoes and mashed potatoes. Dolores had a Dominican breakfast with salami, mangú and pickled onions. We shared a plate of buttermilk pancakes.
We toasted my mother and our good health and happiness with mimosas. When we were finished, Dolores asked our server for the check while I dug my wallet out of my purse.
“No,” Dolores said over my objections. “Put your money away. I’m paying.”
Then the server surprised us by saying, “Your bill was paid already!”
After a few minutes, we realized it was the two men from the parking lot. They had paid our bill along with theirs and had left without saying anything.
A feeling of gratitude quickly overwhelmed the feeling of surprise. A special day was now even more memorable.
This is our official thank you.
— Gloria S. Lanzone
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/13/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html