Although I live in northern California, just north of Sacramento, I l love reading these vignettes about the city. I was stained at McGuire AFB near Trenton in 1956-57, my aunt and uncle lived in Long Beach Long Island. I would take the train into the city almost every weekend, go to the jazz clubs, then I could take the LI RR to Long Beach.
This was just after the Korean war and if you wore your uniform to the USO they would give you tickets to the symphony, the opera, the zoo and plays. So I got to see several great musicals like South Pacific, got to hear Dizzy Gillespie and other great jazz musicians. And some of the great opera singers at the old Met.
One of the advantages was the free tickets, I and a buddy would go to the bars on Fifth Ave. at quitting time. The office workers were almost all young women with meager salaries, so we would sit at the bar with our tickets in our hands and say, "Gee we have these extra tickets to (some play, musical or such"," we never lacked for dates.
5
They did not seem to be laughing, imho, says this was a bone of contention with the young couple.
Somehow, it reminds me of when I was a young married and we sent to a seafood house for dinner, after a nearly perfect day together. My now-ex was from Kansas and had never had a whole lobster. I was talking him through it when the waitress intervened, helpfully, I'm sure she thought. We asked her to stop several times, she continued. He was thoroughly embarrassed and we left shortly thereafter, our dinners unfinished.
We paid the check and left a small tip, but I told her to never do that again.
Boundaries.
5
Too fey and too cliche.
1
Ah, that is the downside to people watching. You rarely know the ending, or if your assumptions are correct. No closure. You will never really know if the fellow walking the dog, with the upright and quick-stepping gait, is a military man. Or is the weary woman trudging to the subway is a tired laborer, or a housewife with many children. Or if the guy doing the crossword puzzle (with a pen!) is successfully completing it. You must be content to rarely if ever know for sure.
The couple in the story? I'd view it as a positive relationship. Passion is good--it indicates they care. No apathy. And they were not berating each other. While she exhibited frustration, he let her talk while listening. So this people watcher sees every prospect for a happy ending!
14
Billy
What a joy to read your kind and thoughtful responses!
My dad always did the Sunday Times crossword in ink and he got it right most of the time. He was an electrician for the City of NY
He died in 2003 at the age of 96...Legally blind and deaf but with all his marbles and sense of humor in tact.
How he would have loved Met. Diary as I do.
17
Did your father do the SATURDAY puzzles in ink though? :-)
3
When the waitress assumed they were engaged, was it because she saw a ring or did she just overheard their conversation and misunderstood?
The two suggests very different explanations to their reaction...
4
Are there only donut shops in Park Slope? Or are there donut shops elsewhere in the NYC metro area>
4
For decades the late Paul Harvey hosted a radio program the name of which was the last five words of his tag line: “And now you know the rest of the story.” Ben—what’s the rest of the story? (I think the streak of Metropolitan Diary “feel good about New York” stories just came to an end, unless Freddie can somehow inflect this one with a positive scenario. Somehow the only positive aspect of the tale I can see is that the two were talking and not texting.)
13
Well, from “Are you ready to order?”
it was only ten minutes to:
Ten minutes later, they were putting on their coats.
I started humming "Ten Minutes Ago," but I'm guessing they never ordered, or if they ordered, never ate. I'd say that outside, they were engaged in talking about becoming engaged.
If so, I hope they did leave the waitress a nice tip! That would be a happy ending for everyone.
4
If it's not considered commercial hawking in the comments, since no money value whatsoever: I had an old song about this type of Brooklyn proposal. The collaboration (sadly) drifted apart ages ago, but maybe the Diary author or couple, if they became one, would let me attach the video to their story - like a very short jukebox Diary musical. :)
"Brooklyn Boy" (very slightly non-PC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiQRDVKvf5Q
6
I’m hoping to read this same story within the coming year—in the Weddings section of the NYT and from the young couple’s point of view: “Our engagement.”
12
That is a wonderful hope Dean, so let me please join you in it. Allen
3
This one feels enigmatic, or maybe poetic - Did something get sparked by the waitress, or maybe just forecast? Maybe the couple is reading this and might check in.
As I often do, to really take an article in before slowly poring over it, I first read this Evelyn Wood style, and that had made me read "They were laughing and holding menus" with an anticipation of "They were laughing and holding hands."
P.S. One nice thing for same-sex couples today is they get to live things like this too in youth. Our engagement was my coming home to "The Supreme Court said yes!" I shouted something like "Joint returns at last," and we zoomed over to the calendar. (We'd never gotten married when it was pre-Federal, because my mind couldn't deal with separate Federal returns but married New York returns, and more key, being married while in some states but not when we traveled or rode through other states.)
28
Exactly, Freddie: Before the author of today’s Diary referred to the “young man” and the “young woman,” I had wondered if the “young couple” was man-man, woman-woman, woman-man, or man-woman.
I grew up in the Midwest, but I’ve lived most of my life in Connecticut. I’m thinking that the very idea of same-sex marriage back in the day, especially in the Midwest, were unheard of. Today most folks don’t even bat an eye, at least here in the Nutmeg State.
I hope that when I go back to the Midwest in a year or two to visit some old school chums, and the (very) few family members who are still alive, I’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how accepting they have become. (I hope!) :-)
17
Freddie I LOVE your sense of humor! Your response to the news of the Supreme Court’s decision on gay marriage is so funny and is of a piece with your daily riffs. I know you enjoy Cole Porter’s wit and wordplay; so many of the verses of “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” were the equivalent of air-brushed by Hollywood for the 1953 movie as you well know, and in the original are wickedly hilarious. Thank you for allowing so many of us to enjoy your smile and laughter provoking takes on classic tunes each day. A toast to you and to “joint returns at last!” Allen
17
Thanks, Allen, but for real - when I crunched the numbers in the January after we got married, as soon as the forms were available, I couldn't believe how much tax we actually saved vs. both single; much more than I'd imagined. My husband's "playfully" annoyed that I won't throw out our back year returns since the 1990s, but in the back of my mind, if I ever really retire, I'm thinking I may want to figure out how much tax we lost since 1989, assuming we'd have gotten married in 1991. He thinks it could upset me, so I should dump all the old returns now! (and of course, there's the limited apartment space). My feeling has been that since I hadn't believed in my 20's and 30's that I'd ever see Federal gay marriage in my lifetime, I'd be fine with the number, but I'm curious.
9