Pretty Fast in Pink
Dear Diary:
I was standing at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street. The blinking “walk” sign indicated four seconds left to cross.
Tired and somewhat defeated after a long day, I thought to myself: I’m not going to rush this time.
Just then, a tall woman dressed in pink from head to toe, with pink nails, heels, sunglasses and cowboy hat to match, slapped me on the back.
“We got this!” she said.
We darted across the avenue together and high-fived when we got to the other side.
— Nick Trepanier
No Seats
Dear Diary:
Seventy-five years old and late for an appointment at N.Y.U., I hopped onto a downtown Q headed for Times Square.
The residual pain from a recent left knee replacement kicked in as I stood in the packed train car.
Dozens of young people sat squeezed in together staring at their phones while I hung onto a slightly sticky pole regretting that I had not worn gloves. No one saw fit to stand up and give me their seat.
I stared at a young woman wearing a red hoodie who was taking up two orange plastic seats, thinking that she should stand or at least make room for me.
I know I should have just asked her to move. But she never looked up, and I did not want to be remembered as the woman who made a scene on the downtown Q.
Instead, I started muttering to myself about young people and their complete disrespect for their elders. Shaking my head, I realized that a man next to me hanging onto the same sticky pole was looking at me.
“Lady,” he said, “you agitated?”
I looked up with a start and told him what I thought about none of the young people giving me their seat.
He laughed.
“Hey,” he said, “you look amazing.”
“Great hair!” he added.
I stared at him.
“If you looked all old and bent over somebody would stand up,” he said. “Take your compliments where you can get ’em.”
When the train jolted to a stop at Times Square, I bounded off feeling young and spunky.
— Lesley Grand
Rainy Wednesday Night
Dear Diary:
It was a rainy Wednesday night when a friend and I got into a Lyft going from a bar in Murray Hill to her place on the Upper West Side.
Looking out the window, I saw an S.U.V. making a right turn into our lane.
“He’s going to hit us,” I said calmly.
I was right. Within seconds, we were being sideswiped. Luckily no one was hurt.
Our driver pulled over and got out, as did the S.U.V.’s driver. Rain continued to pour down.
My friend and I sat in silence for a minute listening to the windshield wipers swish back and forth. I leaned up into the front seat and turned the car’s hazard lights on while we waited and cars whizzed past us.
We watched the interaction between the two drivers, which appeared to be civil.
Our driver soon got back into the car and assured us that everything was OK.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
“Here,” I replied.
“I figured,” he said.
— Mary Martin
Spooky
Dear Diary:
Someone once told me there are bodies in the Hudson River. I didn’t know him, only that we were entering the same Park Slope housewarming.
“Whole bunch of them,” he said, brushing the dirt off his shoes on the doormat.
“You mean the whole Hudson?” I asked. “Or just the part by the city?”
“Does it matter?” he said. “Point is, there are bodies.”
When I returned to my apartment that night, my roommate asked how the party was.
I told her it was fine but that there were bodies in the Hudson River.
“Doesn’t that frighten you?” I asked. “That frightens me.”
My roommate contemplated, twisting the band still hanging onto her ring finger.
“Well, if anyone has seen those bodies, it’s the fish,” she said. “And still, they return every spring.”
— Sammi Minion
Bit Parts
Dear Diary:
I was waiting near Lincoln Center for the M66 bus to take me to the East Side. As I waited, an older woman standing near me engaged me in conversation to pass the time.
Eventually, she asked about my occupation. I told her I was a retired lawyer and that I had previously worked at an advertising agency.
She brightened and said she was also in a second career. She had retired from teaching at a public school and was now an actress.
“That’s great,” I said. “Might I have seen you perform?”
“If you ever watch ‘Law & Order’ you may have,” she said. “I sometimes play the dead body. I am very good at lying still!”
— Jerry Davidow
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