Taking a day off from work after a holiday weekend is something everyone should do at some point in their life. And I don't mean staying out of town a couple of days after. I mean just taking the day off in your own part of town and acting like the complete tourist you wish you could be when you rush to and from work and race to stay with your daily routine.
Living in one of New York's most tourista neighborhoods,and only blocks from about 10 others, I find myself on this Tuesday after Memorial Day enjoying a morning sitting at a wobbly table outside an overpriced cafe on Bleecker and MacDougal Streets in the West Village, eating stale scones, drinking bitter coffee and loving every second of it (I hope the cafe manager doesn't monitor this 'cause this is their wireless service I'm using).
When I got here, the manager had something resembling 9 inch nails going on the speakers. It quickly changed to someone resembling Roy Orbison singing in the style of Johnny Cash. I was able to hear it until a table full of ladies who must meet here on a regular basis, showed up simulataneously and started exchanging holiday weekend stories. No matter, I never do this and I will soak up the Johnny Orbison while the loud trucks and street sweepers barrel by to help the ladies drown out the music until I stop writing this entry.
Today, or this morning anyway, I am the Big Man on Bleecker Street. Not Mulberry Street, like the Billy Joel song - come to think of it, that's another great street to do this. Yes I'm huddling around my laptop (pause for deafening street sweeper - ok I can think again) staying low profile, and according to all who pass, another pretentious tourist who must seem starved to feel important. But what they don't know will be their downfall. Today, I blend into the neighborhood as an out of towner even though I live 100 feet from this cafe. But nobody will know. I will keep my secret identity and roam the streets fighting crime and....oh wait, jeez, I gotta cut down on the comic books.
Johnny Orbison sounds more like Dean Martin now. Perhaps the cafe has run its course. Coffee done, scone done - hey wait, did I even eat it? No big deal friends. Stage one of the day after Memorial Day is complete. What does the day have in store? Perhaps a restaurant playing Symphonic Queen with a bunch of construction workers on break?
Stay tuned to find out.
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