Learning about life is not easy its filled with messages and warnings. Somehow, we all feel the things but expression that are given to things they are quite canny to others. Shedding skin everyday in order to escape the terse circumstances or manipulating them in a way where we feel that we are handling them. Darkness stalk us daily like its our soul mate in search of partner. It does find its partner in the hours of forlorness where our timid skin was trying to change color like chameleon in order to survive in multiple colors owing the individuality for self satisfaction. Dead ends and false hopes they are just modified statements of our perceptions. But only thing that matters is whatever we do we should own it and no one is supposed to be blame for it.Just "Embrace yourself".
3
Yes!
Parallel parking is a real test. I accomplished the task in downtown Seattle, backing into a bracketed spot on a very steep hill. I swear I could see the seagulls and pigeons in flight, through the bottom of my windshield. Five speed manual, clutch, emergency brake, all a cacophony of movements - poor clutch. I did a puffed up strut for a block after paying the parking meter. Would I do it again? NEVER in my life!
3
I failed the parallel parking task of my driver’s test on my 16th birthday. My stepdad could see the devastation in my eyes and so for the next two weeks after school, we practiced parallel parking with cones and brooms on our street.The neighbors chuckled and he got frustrated, but I passed my test with flying colors the next month. Two decades later, I still parallel park with ease thanks to him. Perhaps this parallel parker had a similar driving instructor.
10
The story of the older woman nodding off, and laundry room story, reinforce why cities tend to be more liberal; as sharing resources and not feeling threatened by strangers is part of daily life.
37
I was determined to park my car in a very tight space, down on Crosby Street. A car pulled up in back of me, likely wanting the same spot, and I waved them to pass. I proceeded to maneuver, inching back and forth at least 20 times, while the car behind me never moved. I finally succeeded, with not more than an inch or two to spare, both front and back. Exiting my car, exulting in my success, I saw that the people in the car behind me were giving me a (sitting) ovation. Now, decades later, I still feel the joy I felt then. Occasionally I'd think, "I ought to send this story in to Metropolitan Diary," but never did. But you did, Dana E. Friedman. Thank you!
16
I learned to drive in the rural Mojave Desert town of Apple Valley, CA where parallel parking at the time could generally be avoided. Still, I paid heightened attention to the mechanics of this art and counted myself more proficient and successful than most at this maneuver. While in the Army, I met my soulmate while she was visiting a friend in Louisiana near Fort Polk, she was a city girl through and through from San Francisco, our connection being our home state. She was unimpressed with my flawless parallel parking skills, always annoying me with "we will see someday". Some five or so years after meeting, four years into our 44 year marriage, we moved to her hometown 's Richmond district, where parking is a major preoccupation of city life. The constant activity on the street, vehicular and pedestrian, insures that every attempt has an audience, and more often than not, the exercise has a tolerance for error not to exceed two inches between utter failure and success, and fit has to be judged accurately on the fly anticipated well before lining up alongside the potential space. This proved too much for my relaxed, country boy skills and I had to submit to observing her uncanny instinctive "sizing" skills coupled with "cool" to drown out all the distractions. I had to get over my defensive "stop looking at me" paranoia. She was right, thrust into the crucible of real driving and parking, I had to acknowledge who was the master, who's never had an accident or ticket.
8
My aunt lived in a small SC town. In the 1960s, the driver's license test was given one day a week, and she tried and failed some five times, because parallel parking was 30 points on a 100-point exam, with 70 as the passing grade. She couldn't parallel park and always made at least one other error. The 6th time she took the test, the examiner -- the same man who had administered the previous 5 -- offered, "Miss P., if you promise not to ever parallel park, I'll give you the license." She accepted, and I never saw her attempt to parallel park.
She's long gone, but I can still picture her driving away with the brake lights glowing, since she generally drove with her left foot resting on the brake pedal.
18
parallel parking is kind of a misnomer...
it's really reverse maneuver parking...
7
I lived and parked in San Francisco, so I am an ace parallel parker. Still, because I am female, I sometimes get smirking guys standing and watching to see whether I can achieve perfect parallelism in a few deft moves. They doubt my competence because of my gender. I don’t find it amusing. At all.
But I have smirked myself, I admit. Several months ago, in the Trader Joe’s parking lot, I watched a young woman, in an expensive, new car, go through about twenty ”forwards and backs” while trying to get into a remarkably capacious perpendicular parking space. She was likely a foreign student at the local university, her foreignness being obvious because she was wearing a stylish, black breathing mask that’s matched her trendy black clothing and hat (this was well before Wuhan coronavirus existed). A few older folks gathered while the girl went through this long process — all of us shaking our heads and exchanging knowing looks. Finally, this girl got out of her car and assessed the final positioning, from all angles. Dead crooked, and only half in the slot. So she got back in and — with several adjustments — pulled out of the spot and went to look for another. Those gathered shared a chuckle. It was funny, and I think most people can identify with the self doubt of new drivers. But there was an element of resentment, too. Who gets a high-end car as their first ride? My first car was practically held together with duct tape. I question my motivation for laughing.
My apologies.
31
@Passion for Peaches Beautifully written: thanks!
4
@Passion for Peaches
My husband coached a similar young person into a parallel parking spot a few months ago. He looked to be in his early 20s, and Boston is a college town with many foreign students. This young guy's ride? A gleaming Mercedes AMG GT sports sedan. I think my husband, who is a nice guy by nature, also didn't want to see such a beautiful car get dinged up!
3
@Passion for Peaches I watched a person take over five minutes to parallel park....back and forth, in and out, over and over, that poor curb. She nearly hit the car behind her several times.
The two spaces in front of her were empty.
3
Alisa Partlan, what a beautiful poem. Thank you
12
Love these stories, but I am amazed that people struggle with this easily learned skill (parallel parking). I say that as someone that has parallel parked all 4 ways.
Drive on right - park on right
Drive on right - park on left
Drive on left- park on right
Drive on left- park on left
You learn your marking points and it is just so easy to do.
5
I think I see another Amazon Prime series coming from Metropolitan Diary!! Love these simple heartwarming stories!
12
"I wish I could buy that guy a beer."
— David Machlowitz
As soon as read the "...togethr for 37 years." that was my immediate thought.
15
Each was a gem. I came to this having had my daily dose of newsworthy despair...more flu, more political shenanigans, more strife.
How lovely to come to a resting place here. A car parked perfectly, laundry going in its circle, an encounter in a park that became a married life, a young woman finding her grandmother in another, a dream of a day...perfection.
Turns out the cure to what ails is as close as the person sitting or standing next to us. Profound thanks to each of these gifted writers for that simple, yet essential reminder.
48
@AhBrightWings Over coffee this Sunday morning, I delighted in each story. It was your lovely comment that brought me to tears. Thank you.
9
I'm from Brooklyn and squeeze into the tightest spots with the biggest cars. However on a road trip with a 25 foot aluminum Airstream plus truck i I wanted to park in a tight spot at National Park camp sight.
After many attempts and being directed by my wife things were not going well. A young man asked if he and his two friends could park it for us. They claimed to be experts. Sure enough they did it in 2 minutes flat. I asked whet they did for a living. "Navy, sir. We park jets on an aircraft carrier flight deck.
"
111
@WallStSnoop Beautiful! This story is worthy of a diary item all its own. Thank you.
6
I got a grin on my face and a chill up my spine when I read this!
6
@Sue Sartini I had the very same reaction. It just goes to show the power of words.
4
These made me smile. I love simple stories of our shared humanity.
32
In Flipping for it, the civil thing to do was for the winner to get two machines and the loser one.
16
@Fred
Maybe not. It looks like both of them have enough laundry to fill 3 machines, otherwise, there's probably no need to flip.
If that's the case, then, the winner should take all 3 and then let the loser take all 3 afterwards.
This way, the winner is done after one load and the loser is done after the time it takes to do two loads.
If they do it the "civil" way, then both the winner and loser won't be done until after two loads are done.
29
I got my first driver's license in Raleigh, NC, when I was 35. At that time, parallel parking was not a requirement (and the DMV accepted a family Bible as identification!). So I never did learn to parallel park.
When going downtown one day, I could not find any diagonal parking spaces. So...I attempted to parallel park (did I mention that I'm only 4'10" tall?) in the only available space. I tried vainly for about five minutes...first the front of my car stuck out, and then the back did. I was getting embarrassed.
Impulsively, I handed my keys to a passerby, who parked my car in about 10 seconds!
Forty years later, I live in Seattle, still cannot parallel park, but use (and like) public transportation.
32
@Pat Haha- the kindness of that stranger (and their parking acumen) reminds me of a few Marines I worked with from the Carolinas. People are just different from down there I guess.
11
If it were me with bags of laundry waiting for the elevator and the elevator arrived with someone who had bags of laundry, I’d have turned around and gone back to my apartment.
BUT, it wouldn’t have been me because when I lived in an apartment I did my laundry at 5:30 AM when the laundry room was unlocked by the super.
13
@Richard B
When I lived in Geneva my regie (apartment super) assigned tenants their respective laundry times. If you happened to get 10:30 am on a Wednesday so be it. No matter that you had a job during that time, your boss would/should understand was the regime’s thinking. If you missed your slot due to travel, for example, you could go to the laundromat in neighboring France—or to a friend’s.
6
I was a passenger in a car driven by a native New Yorker who hadn't learned to drive until she was well into adulthood. She was attempting to parallel park in a very crowded area, and doing it badly, but she did eventually get into the space. When we returned to the car there was a note on the windshield: "Parking Job, D-, Entertainment Value, A+".
61
Metropolitan Diary convinced me to subscribe to the NY Times.
In our world of increasing incivility, it is a joy to read.
71
Some years ago, I was attempting to parallel park my minivan in Hudson Heights, near the GWB. It was a tight spot, and I knew it would be a challenge, if not impossible, to fit. A man stopped on the sidewalk, hands in pockets, and watched, which made me self-conscious, and the task that much more daunting. Frustrated, I finally opened my window and called out to him. "Say," I said. "Do you think instead of simply watching me, could you give me a hand? Tell me if I have a chance in hell of fitting in this spot?"
He stood there, leaned to the right and then to the left, and slowly shook his head.
"Thanks!" I shouted cheerily.
The man waved in response, and we both went on our respective ways.
24
I had a different parking problem because the inside of the doors of my car, a German model, were rhomboidal toward the front instead of parallel to the exterior. It was like parking an optical illusion where I would always end up askew to the curb or at a twenty degree angle to the lines in a parking lot. It was infuriating as there was no line of reference to align the vehicle so that it took three or four tries, at least, to get it right, even resorting to parking with the door open. Finally got rid of that car.
18
When one is kind to another, each benefits, as do those who witness the exchange. Cruelty of course spawns the mirror opposite. Be kind.
83
@Dale Irwin Dale, that may be the wisest, most succinct thing I've read since the passing of Kurt Vonnegut. Be well, and kind.
20
After three years of parallel parking in NYC, I moved to LA. My single handed perfect three pointer into a tight spot in a lot resulted in an offer for a job starting that day. Guy who managed the lot couldn't believe it. Had a job but you never know.
38
@poslug
Jack Kerouac’s On The Road has great descriptive passages about the main character, Dean Moriarty’s, job in a NYC midtown parking lot. Your comment brought it to mind.
11
@Patrick your comment reminded me of it.
4
I accidentally clicked my way to these short stories. I considered immediately "back clicking" my way out, but couldn't stop myself from reading at least the first few sentences- just to see where I had gotten myself. Glad I did! My day is going to be just a bit more optimistic now.
67
@Greg
Even better, you'll find many more vignettes written in the comments section as well.
4
These are great, of course, but could I ask that you put the rhyming poems last? Once I read a poem it takes takes time for me to loose the rhythmic pattern...I needed to check my insta and come back.
9
@Angus
I just skip them, they are rarely as good as the non rhyming stories
16
Now that I live in France, I drive a tiny Fiat, so parking and navigating narrow streets is never a problem. I always marvel at tourists who, without children or a large group to transport, insist on renting a large SUV. Watching them maneuver into parking spaces or just around tight corners on narrow streets is a spectator sport. Once while enjoying a coffee at a sidewalk cafe in Avignon, the driver of a a large SUV realized he couldn't make the tight turn down the narrow lane and needed to back up. After several false attempts, customers helpfully yelled suggestions the the driver clearly couldn't understand. After of good 1/2 hour, the cafe's owner--a tiny older woman--calmly and without saying a word walked over to the SUV, towel still draped over her arm, deftly turned the steering wheel through the open window to the correct position, allowing the red-faced driver to back up and escape. Entertainment over, we all went back to our coffees.
68
As so many of these stories show, not many things in life can raise one's spirits like a small kindness from a complete stranger. So what in the world is everyone waiting for?
124
Dear Dana: I’m in Dallas so parking here is not nearly the nightmare you endure. But I get more complements on backing my SUV into my parking place between a couple of tricky concrete dividers than I do anything else in my life. I have been doing this long enough that I can do it in one quick motion. The doormen do laugh at me on the rare day it takes an extra move. Sadly, I have no pictures of my perfect parking job. Maybe I’ll get to work on time to take one tomorrow.
13
David Machlowitz - maybe your friend wasn't 'interrupting', but planting a grand idea in both your and your future spouse's heads!
16
@Uno Mas, when a woman notices that a man she just met has female friends, he moves up a notch in her assessment of datability.
11
@Uno Mas thanks, but trust me, the grand idea was already in my head, though perhaps not in my future wife's!
@Passion, I agree, but both friends were male. The quieter one was later best man at our wedding, and he and the other are still close friends of mine.
15
@DSM14
Very sweet. Congratulations on a solid relationship!
7
Sure, Dana, you're very impressive. But MY wife can park our car in spaces that are shorter than the car's length. And she does it without driving the car at near light-speed. So there.
10
@David A.
I took the driver's test in Seattle that same year and I swear I got the same guy!
6
@David A., one of the nicest compliments my husband ever gave me was, “You are a really good driver.” He’s a gear head, so that was huge.
13
In 1980 I moved from Wisconsin to the Seattle area, and the rule back then was, to get a WA state driver's license you had to take the road test. I was an experienced driver, so wasn't concerned, but the test started off on a bad note when I politely asked the official to put his seat belt on. After that, he was not pleased with me. The test went along fine, though, or so I thought, and to demonstrate my skill at parallel parking, he instructed me to park on a residential street between an actual car and an imaginary vehicle behind it. At the end of the test he announced I'd passed, but barely, because I'd flunked one part: the parallel park. I asked why, and he told me I'd bumped into the imaginary vehicle!
73
I'm a pretty good parallel parker, but once I found myself having to reverse into a space going uphill. In an unfamiliar rental car. With standard shift. But worst of all was the cable car impatiently waiting for me to get it over with.
Ah, the joys of San Francisco!
38
My friend Olivia can park on a steep uphill on the left side of the street. She’s amazing!
10
. . . forgot to mention that Olivia’s vehicle was a standard (aka: stick) pick-up truck.
8
@Larry I rented a car in San Francisco in the 1980's and said, I don't want a stick shift. He laughed and said, lady, we don't rent stick shifts, only automatics!
7
Okay, just one more...
My wife and I finally figured out which bus to take from Port Authority to Tenafly New Jersey last September at 2am (forget all the buttons; just type in the city destination name) ...after catching a surprise set of Jim Gaffigan down at the Gotham Comedy Club earlier that evening. He was polishing up his Canadian jokes for a northern border state tour. I was still laughing at his critical inner voice “If he does one more Canadian joke I’m gonna kill him.”
As we finally settled into the dark back row of the bus to rest our legs from a long night out walking to save ourselves from getting gouged by uber prices, a tall Japanese or Korean looking dude took off his backpack, put on his ear pods and sat to the right of my wife who sat right of me. I put my arm around my wife’s waste, felt my head roll back, the alcohol kicked in and with the soft lull of the bus I was fast asleep.
Occasionally I would be rudely but gently awakened by the tickling brush of my wife’s arm against the hairs on my right forearm. Each time the light brush awoke me from my slumber I would frown my eyebrows, too tired and inebriated to protest then go back to sleep.
Somewhere through Koreatown the bus lurched to a stop. I awoke startled and grabbed my wife’s wrist. I looked around, calmed down and caressed my wife’s hand to go back to sleep. But it wasn’t my wife’s hand. The tall asian man shot up wide eyed and stormed off the bus.
I will always wonder if that was his stop?
33
What a joy and comfort these stories are amid the stupid cruelty of this age. Thank you.
88
I do so love New York ❤️
39
I was the driver. My wife, our 17 year old child (aka hyper-critical new driver)), and a couple of friends were in the car. We were late for dinner and the parking spot (probably the last one in Forest Hills) was barely big enough and on the driver's side, so this was not an easy task. Daughter said firmly "You'll never make it." Lots of pressure.
I swooped in, perfect parallel, no back and forth, leaving maybe 10 inches in front and 10 inches behind the car. Six years later and and maybe a bit of luck and I'm still grinning.
75
Oo! Ooo! I can do this!
Here it goes...
I walked out of the hot summer tourist trap in the park near Columbus Circle and into the cool pretentious air of the Whole Foods beer department. Heavenly angels sang louder as I approached a beer tap. I think I gently pushed the face of a vitamin salesman away from me as my eyes stayed locked on the tap of a frosty blonde ale... aahh... heaven.
Soon after my wife and kids caught up to me with my grandmother I slipped back to reality and went to find seafood for dinner. As my eyes trained on “sustainably wild caught salmon” I doubled back on another strange label that read, “responsibly raised salmon.”
Without wasting a breath I asked the stern-faced man in the white hair cap and latex gloves for “Irresponsibly raised salmon.” Impervious to his emotionless stare of someone who is not currently enjoying his day, job or life I dug in; “I only want fish that abandon their eggs and never return to raise them.” Finally, I got him to crack a smile.
“You want this one?” He said pointing at the wild sockeye.
Now it was my turn to smile. He read me too.
“You must get all kinds of strange requests.”
“You have no idea,” the man in the white hair cap responded. “I’ve had a lady ask me for ‘stress free’ salmon. I didn’t even know what to say.”
I casually replied, “Weeell you should have asked her ‘Do you want your salmon with or without a fear-free certification or a diet of kale and prozac?’”
We had a good laugh and went about our day.
39
Speaking from experience, if you find yourself nodding off midday on the subway, which is not a good place to do that btw, you probably have a sleep disorder and should see a doctor. It is a very treatable condition, and you will thank yourself for looking after it.
11
@Patrick, could be that, it’s true. But perhaps the older woman simply felt the snug comfort of her seat mate’s proximity, and felt safe enough to doze off for a bit. Some elders have little opportunity for physical closeness and touch, in their solitary lives, outside of medical exams. A Japanese massage therapist once told me that she had seen — and felt — that need in her older clients in Japan.
I thought that story was poignant. Deeply moving.
24
@Passion for Peaches
I was just saying without reference to the case at hand, other than the sleeping on the subway part, because like myself once, many people don't even know what sleep apnea is, let alone that they may suffer from it. Untreated, it can greatly aggravate other medical conditions, particularly heart problems, but treatment will greatly improve the quality on life for the sufferer.
As to the story about the older woman, if it were Paris or Rome but not New York, I would have immediately said she was a practiced pickpocket. Your explanation sounds too California to me, esp. w. the Japanese massage therapist tie in. For New York, sleep disorder is my guess and I'm sticking to it.
2
@Patrick, “too California”? Wow. Just wow.
12
I was trying to park in a small space and did the classic thing of going back, forward, back, forward, and being in the same position. I finally started over and parked fine.
I got out and saw two men at a sidewalk table grinning at me.
"I don't usually park so stupid," I told them.
"You made it," one of them told me. "We had fun watching you."
My amusement for others on a hot day!
34
Dear Dana,
I've never been able to parallel park. I'm 64 now but gave up even trying decades ago. I instead buy tiny sports cars that can zip into a space nosing in, or I find a different kind of parking. But when we moved to Georgia from the U.S. Virgin Islands a few years back, our driver's licenses were mysteriously not transferable, and I had to take the whole driving test. It was a pretty funny day. The DMV in Savannah was having computer glitches so I drove a couple of hours away to a little town on the outskirts of the county where all there was in front of the DMV was a huge empty parking lot. As we drove around the tester said things like, "Oh, look, there's a railroad crossing!" and I'd say "But it doesn't have lights or gates so I'll stop 30 feet away and look in both directions!" By the time we got to the parallel parking area we had created a whole world. Somehow I sort of parallel parked between the orange cones, and she thanked me for not being a petrified 16-year-old kid. I passed!
72
I had a similar parking moment with my Suburu GT wagon in Jackson Heights and a baby in the car. Three cuts and I swear it was only a few inches on either side. Perfectly straight and inches from the curb. I felt like the master of the universe, that I had truly conquered NYC parking. Alas, I had no witnesses and this was pre-smart phone. It will be a tale that only lives as legend in my family.
42
I had just won a Federal arts grant among just 5 chosen from 60 thousand applicants.
Celebrating my good luck with friends for 3 days I must have looked the sight with a weeks bearded growth and rumpled up clothing and a hangover or 2.
A friend knowing that I was going uptown on the Madison Avenue bus asked me to bring her daughter's violin to drop off at a music school I did so the violin case situated somewhat askew between my legs ,when suddenly a departing passenger quickly on the way out towards the rear exit put a 20 dollars bill in my hand and wished me" good luck in life".
I must have looked the poor romantic starving young artist but before I could return the bill to her she disappeared ,it was the luckiest year of my life.
86
@Carlyle T.
How do you get a week’s worth of beard in 3 days?
@Richard B
Figure of speech?
2
@Richard B
This is easy. You start with five days worth before the three day celebration.
11
These are all just lovely. Thank you.
54
Metropolitan Diary is one of the best things in the NYT, always a pleasure to read one's adventures or mishaps in the city.
109
I agree!
8
@Pusa yes, and I think it was particularly good this week.
7
Alisa Partlan, you are SO talented - I have not enjoyed a poem this much in years. Thank you (and I mean it!)
29
The first one reminds me of a time I was on a very long bus ride in Sulawesi, Indonesia. I was seated in the very back seat as an old man got on. He saw the empty seat, smiled at me, sat down next to me and promptly fell asleep, his head falling onto my shoulder. Over the next few minutes I gently nudged my shoulder and he would wake up and apologize. Then his head would fall back on my shoulder. On the third time, I just let it stay, rested my head on his, and we both had a good long sleep.
He woke up first, realized my head was lying on his, and nudged me up and awake. We both looked at each other, realized what it happened and both burst out laughing, remaining in that condition for some time.
97
Dear David,
Loved reading your story and here is my story, which is entirely different.
On 4th September 1978 myself along with my parents and couple of relatives went to see my wife to be in Hanamakonda, Warangal from Dornakal. My father made us to travel in a Passenger train, which took 4 hours to reach the place. My would be Father - in - law waited, got bored and went for walking. He was later picked up and brought home after we reached there.
It was not a one to one meeting but a group one. I asked her couple of questions like what books she reads and what movies she watches. She didn’t ask me any questions. During those days only bridegroom to be used to ask questions. Not that I had any objection if she were to ask me questions. No one dared to have a separate one to one meeting those days.
They offered us some snacks and tea. We took leave of them. I thought I am so so and she is so so. I decided immediately that I will marry her. No sooner we reached Kazipet station, I asked my father to inform her father that I like her and that I will marry her if I am acceptable to her. By the way Kazipet and Warangal are quite near, a few miles away from each other.
Her acceptance was conveyed to us later. I thought of a revolutionary method to get to know her. I proposed writing letters. She said yes after taking permission. You are mistaken if you think they are love letters. We got married on 10th December 1978 in a traditional way in Hanamakonda.
53
@Sivaram Pochiraju I liked your story very much and wish you many more years of happiness.
27
@DSM14 : Thank you very much for your appreciation. I would like say one thing here. Marriage is after all compromise doesn’t matter type of marriage.
In my opinion marriage is divine and not meant to be broken just like that unless the persons concerned are terribly bad. Nowadays it has become a fashion to give divorce for petty reasons on account of ego.
Divorce has increased manyfold on account of couple becoming economically independent and so are their egos.
In marital life, it’s not happiness all the time. There are countless arguments that too heated from either party from time to time. That doesn’t mean one should separate. There is an eternal connectivity called children. For whose sake parents shouldn’t separate at all. This is what family bonding and affection all about. That makes marital journey long lasting and beautiful.
Differences are temporary but bonding is permanent.
40
How uplifting to read these. After another day of trump angst one can see that there is still hope for the rest of us.
72
I liked Alisa Partlan’s poem very much. A memorable aspect of it for me is how she held on to a dream and thought about it later. That’s a very worthwhile habit of mind to cultivate.
32
Ohhh - one of my most memorable nights ever will be when my husband and I happened upon a pop-up dance party in Central Park. It was quite late at night but we heard music and could not resist. What fun, what people, what joy. These stories make me happy and sad at the same time.
75
I had thought they would have put their darks together in one. Lights in the other and towls and sheets in the last. Who knows they may have struck up a friendship!
43
Instead of a cold, unfriendly response each writer speaks of human kindness; a meeting of a fellow New Yorker just when you are sure you are alone. Once again Metropolitan Diary gives a lift to my day.
131
I always enjoy reading the wistful New York reminiscences in Metropolitan Diary, but what I particularly appreciate are the illustrations by Agnes Lee. They perfectly capture the feelings in each anecdote.
102
In “Flipping for It“ there were three empty washers available. So why did the winner hog all of them? Each person should take one and they flip for the third. But no way should one person take all three.
64
@Steve
Right! In fact, I had assumed as I read the piece that they were flipping for a second machine, not all three, and was quite surprised to read the outcome. Can't imagine in my building any of my neighbors taking all three like that. Well, hardly any... There ARE a couple...
38
@Steve what kind of masochist staggers three loads of laundry? :-)
34
@BBB
But if they each had three loads then they would both have to have waited for the first loads to be done. This way only one would.
62
Hi Freddie,
Re what you wrote on Diana Rigg: "...She may play infirm on TV, but those are the roles she's playing, like Cicley Tyson decades ago playing the elderly Jane Pittman taking that iconic sip from the "whites only" water fountain - and at over 90 a few years ago, Ms. Tyson was still doing eight shows for several months, carrying the play!"
Think you are referring to her astonishing performance about six years ago with James Earl Jones in The Gin Game. And you are absolutely right--she was phenomenal. They both were. I remember we had fabulous seats for that--row E center--and I was astonished at her vivacity in that play, never mind her ability to deliver those demanding lines. But even more, her face was so young and lovely; she didn't look a day over 45, and she was 93 at the time.
Elissa
21
All the stories were great and one life-changing,some not so much, some not at all, some really pathetic but the parking story made me think about life's daily, mundane successes. How many times have we all done something unexpected or unusual and wished that someone had been there to witness it? Or not. I mean who wants people to see you at your weakest, most vulnerable. Sometimes I do. We take private stock of such events, but somehow having a witness (or a standing O) makes them seem more special.
23
Reply to Dean:
Dear Dean,
I replied last night, but my words obviously disappeared into the starry ethers.
Far from being a poet, just a rhymester, I.
In fact, though I tried to retract,
My words to the Times Met Diary did fly.
Your inspired tale of how two hearts did entwine
Is lovely. And this week must be given to your Wife as her
Valentine.
Elissa
14
Funny entries!!
5
A few years ago, I had an experience very similar to Dana's.
In a neighborhood where parking is always tough, things were made even more difficult because construction was going on, so the construction workers and their equipment took up a lot of the available spaces.
There it was, though, directly across the street from my destination. A small space, to be sure, but I have a small car. However, it was on the LEFT SIDE of the one-way street! Could I do it? Why not try?
I not only made it on the first attempt, I backed in perfectly. No need to make any adjustments.
I got out of the car and noticed that a group of the construction workers had stopped to watch. They all gave me "thumbs up!"
75
You both are so lucky. I too have done a perfect park, but no one to see it, so I have to tell people which just isn’t the same! It’s especially gratifying to do a great parallel park because that’s the one thing I failed on my driving test lo those many years ago. I remember the policeman who tested me saying, “don’t worry, you’ll learn” and he didn’t fail me. Of course a 1957 Buick with big fins was no easy vehicle to park, at 5’2”!
22
@Pam B -
and I'll bet that '57 Buick didn't have power steering, either.
14
I read this column every week with a smile on my face, and sometimes a tear or two. I was born in Manhattan, but raised on Long Island and long ago moved to Alaska. But New York is in my heart and I feel strongly attached. Thank you for all of the stories - they bring me a bit of "home" every week.
87
@Margaret
Alaska!!
I've imagined going there. Maybe I will.
8
@Sylvia ask Margaret it you can visit - ha!
5
All the stories were great and one life-changing, but the parking story made me think about life's daily, mundane successes. How many times have we all done something unexpected or unusual and wished that someone had been there to witness it? We take private stock of such events, but somehow having a witness (or a standing O) makes them seem more special.
36
This is the only column or article I return to throughout the week to catch up with the comments. I love this community of natives and visitors and dreamers who come together to share their humanity.
151
@Allison And the hanger-ons.
10
@GB, As well as the hangers-on!
6
I have seen umpteen number of times such a thing happening while travelling in a bus or train. What a sweet gesture to let the elderly lady sleep on her shoulder !
It’s not that easy to let the other person sleep. Many people simply can’t stand the other person’s action even if it’s unintentional. Thanks for writing a wonderful story “ Riding Downtown “ and letting us know about the humane nature of Erica DePiero. Sorry to know about the demise of her grandmother.
I am extremely pleased to read the story “ In the Park “. I am very happy to know that David Machlowitz chose to pick the lady for his life, whom he offered to walk home from the park. The fact that the couple has had a very long marital journey of 37 years speaks volumes about their commitment.
By the way I have completed 41 years of marital journey through arranged marriage. It’s a very interesting story. I will write about it some other time.
“ Tuesday Morning “ is a lovely poem. Thanks for writing Alisa Partlan. I am also curious to know, who offered a piece of ripe pear even if it’s in a dream ?
Perfect parallel parking indicates the skill of the driver concerned and worth applauding. Dana. E. Friedman richly deserves the applaud she has got from the onlookers. Thanks for writing a sweet story “ Tight Spot “.
I am happy to read the story “ Flipping for It “. Thanks for writing Ramy Fakhr. I somehow feel the writer would have loved to wait to make the girl happy even otherwise.
77
@Sivaram Pochiraju
Sivaram, along with my pleasure with this weekly column, I always look forward to your comments. Peace.
8
@Bronxjanie : Thank you very much. It’s my pleasure that I am able to make a few people happy at least. I cherish your valuable opinion. It’s a learning experience everyday.
4
@Sivaram Pochiraju
I’m looking forward to the day you recount the story of your arranged marriage. I’ve had a couple of conversations with Indians who insisted that prospects for lasting love are best in arranged marriages. And I’ve read novels and stories where spouses start as strangers, then romance breaks out. But I’ve also heard stories of brides fleeing a mother-in-law who proved to be a tyrant.
By far the most interesting arranged marriage story I know of is in the great Satyajit Ray’s 1950s film masterpiece “The Apu Trilogy. “ When a bridegroom proves to be entirely out of his mind just ahead of the nuptials, Apu is pressed to take his place, and consents. His gamble soon proves lucky, as the new couple falls in love and awaits their first child...
I’ll leave the story there.
9
I am a retired educator. My experience is the urban settings.
From the column I don’t know enough about the situation to pass judgment but what I do know is that educators come in all sizes, shapes and with many quirks; and kids survive anyway.
If a competent teacher, supervisor, guidance counselor or social worker is generally interested in kids, those kids know it.
Nothing else matters.
9
Did I miss a story in this week's Diary, or was this post intended for another comments section?
45
@Barry Ancona : Perhaps. The same thing happened to me once in the New York Times only few years back. I happened to read one particular article and then intended to comment but unintentionally another article was opened and I wrote my comment. My comment pertaining to the other article got published there. Those days New York Times used to intimate through email after publishing the comment. That’s how I came to know about it. However I didn’t dare reading comments of other readers regarding my comment.
Your comment has brought back my memories. Thanks for the same.
8
For All the Beloved Nonnas We Meet While Traveling
Lovely and rich is the "tiny love story" by Dean,
Smooth and glossy purple as an aubergine.
Had the Macbeths' castle Freddie's lyrics to entertain,
Much bloodshed might have been spared moving Birnam to
Dunsinane.
But Allen's amuse-bouche to banish a past week so very mean,
Becomes a paean both to the power of kindness and rustic cuisine....
Elissa
16
@els - wonderful. And I found the Diary item I'd been looking for. I'd been recalling it as someone in a bus saying about "Medea" (starring internationally acclaimed Metropolitan Diary writer and great actress Diana Rigg) that prozac could have helped it end differently. I was close, the actual language is in the third Diary item here https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/13/garden/metropolitan-diary-769487.html
And I guess the Macbeths might be described as a dysfunctional family, too.
So is Diana Rigg the only Diary writer to have also been written about in another writer's Diary entry? (If so, that's more rare than an EGOT.)
7
Reply to els:
Dear Elissa,
That’s great! I love your rhymes. “Dean” and “aubergine,” “entertain” and “Dunsinane,” and “mean” and “cuisine.” You are a poet!
Best wishes,
Dean
8
@Freddie
Hi Freddie,
Diana Rigg was a truly great Medea. I remember that back in the 1970s when she played a role in The Avengers my husband was quite taken by her elegance and beauty. One could sense her great dramatic skill even then, and better, grander roles soon came her way. She played many great, complex villain(esses) and often had Medea- or Lady M-like roles.
So I found it both sad and a bit humbling to see how time comes to treat us all. Watching her recently in Games of Thrones and as an arthritic, aging Dutchess in the British series Victoria brought tears to my eyes. Time does indeed "make fools of us all."
Best,
Elissa
12
This week's entries were particularly good especially after what others have written was a tough week. I was especially moved by Erica's tender subway encounter and her kindness. Alisa's lyrical poetry has more than a little Joni Mitchell in it.
41
@John Collinge - regarding "others have written was a tough week"
It occurs to me there ARE at least two sides to everything. I gather that for people who want a 7 to 2 conservative leaning Supreme Court for the next 40 years though, they can't imagine what was tough about the week! :(
13
@Freddie Of course, but I am not on that side.
19
Such wonderful diary entries this week. So love the tenderness of the train ride after you lost your beloved Sicilian grandmother Erica. She somehow appeared next to you on the train.
"In the Park" hits it out of the park with this romantic tale.
"Tight Spot" is such a New York moment. The standing ovation--perfect reaction to your adept maneuvering.
Parking spaces, in general, have many tales to tell. When I get a good on-street space that exceeds the days I might stay my friends will often entice me to stay until the morning I have to move my car.
Wish this column could be an everyday column, so wonderful. Thanks all for your entries, Tricia
108
@Tricia You said everything I thought and felt. This week’s diary was really a pip, wasn’t it?
24
@Allison thanks Allison, glad I was able to sum it up for you too:) This edition of the diary was just great!
2
Dear Ms. DePiero,
Thank you for a beautiful Diary entry. You provided kindness, comfort, and tenderness to your fellow passenger that morning, and received in return I hope some comfort yourself in your time of grief and sorrow.
Please be well.
Allen
118
Dear David Machlowitz,
Congratulations on your 37 years together with your wife.
Here’s my story:
Once upon a time, a woman and I were friends. We often got together for walks and for coffee. One night I invited her over for dinner. I made stir-fried shrimp. She never went home. That was 35 years ago. And we have lived happily ever after.
(People have asked me: “What did you put into that shrimp?”)
Best wishes,
Dean
167
Dear Dean,
Your own story is as great as the entry by David Machlowitz. Both of your stories led me to think of Freddie, who so often has commented about a Diary entry involving two people meeting one another that he hoped the story had an ending similar to the ones you and David provided. May you both have many more years enjoying the companionship of the loves of your lives encountered, by David, in the park, and by you, over a home-made dinner of stir-fried shrimp.
Thanks for a wonderfully romantic tale Dean. Wishing you, and David, and Freddie, and all readers good health and equally romantic encounters.
Allen
68
@Dean -
“I made stir-fried shrimp. She never went home. That was 35 years ago. And we have lived happily ever after. “
Tune of “Happily Ever After” (Carol Burnett version as Princess Fred “Once Upon A Mattress”)
Here's to more happily happily happily ever after
The Diary story told of this tale in the park.
When both of them laughed, they suspected there’s more there than laughter.
And hopefully, there are more stories of love this can spark
The comment Dean wrote had me sighing
When I read of the food he was frying
With hints that maybe a “they” could come of “him” and “her.”
That friend that Dean had befriended!
That dinner that still hasn’t ended!
That fried shrimp caused - quite a stir.
That’s the happy conclusion I seek.
‘Cause, Diary, really, last week wasn’t such a great week.
Let’s have more happily happily happily ever after
I’m so teary with joy that my dog thinks his human’s a wimp.
But what was cooked up was a recipe for love and laughter
Huge helpings, they didn’t skimp.
And now we’re going on Postmates
Yes, going on Postmates
And ordering stir-fried shrimp!
54
@Dean Lovely story. No mystery what you put in the shrimp. You put you. May you two have many more years together.
106