Goodbye, New York

(Note: I wrote this last Thursday, but neglected to post it)

Some of you may know that I don’t like endings, and some may have gathered that from the other posts in this blog. When I read a book, I start feeling a little hollowed-out when the falling action starts, and by dénouement, I’m utterly drained. I’d almost prefer that the end come swiftly and with a minimum of warning, so that I can skip the out-of-phase feeling I drag myself around with for days while I slog through the final chapters. This move is not much different. I’ve been saying goodbye for at least 8 weeks now, and I’m feeling a pretty gutted by the whole experience now.

I’m happy to say, though, that today, I bid a final goodbye to something which I will not miss in the least – my weekly trek to New York. For those fortunate enough to have a sub-three hour commute, please allow me to share with you some of the joys of this weekly (or more) event.
My day starts at 4:55am when the alarm goes off for the first time. Normal people might not need to set the alarm this early for a 6:05 train, but I need at least two snoozes before I actually get up, so I can get 30 more minutes of junk sleep. 5:15 out of bed, out of the house by 5:45, at the train station by 6:00, train at 6:05 when it’s on time. One thing I’ve learned in the 8 years I’ve been doing this is it’s healthy to develop a Zen-like acceptance of inconvenience. This makes those days when it’s 9 degrees out and the train hasn’t come by 6:30 somewhat more bearable.

It was also useful for me to develop deafness, or at least to have acquire a decent set of earbuds (thanks, Mom!). This so that I can block out the woman across from me humming tunelessly in between retching into her cell phone about nothing in particular, or make it easier to bear the idiot in front of me playing with the ringer on his phone (both of these going on as I write this). By the way, when I become king of the world, my first royal decree will be to make it not only legal, but an outright obligation of every citizen to throw from a moving vehicle anyone with a pop music ringtone.

Dash up the steps to change to another train in Philadelphia, or, as is the case today, take a leisurely stroll to Dunkin Donuts for a bagel and coffee, and return to my train. Arrive Penn Station 8:30, Biblical parting of crowds to get to subway, long ride to South Ferry, where you “must be in one of the first 5 cars to exit” and apparently must also be “stone deaf” as conductor announces this on full volume in heavy Jamaican accent.

I should mention here that my department moved some years ago from some fairly nice offices in Midtown Manhattan to offices downtown. Now, I shouldn’t complain, since downtown is still Manhattan, but it’s about as close as you can get to not being Manhattan without actually being there. In fact, downtown is really a suburb of New Jersey. There’s a story that our downtown building was the basis for the 1970’s disaster classic, “The Towering Inferno”, but I believe the real buildings were in Brazil.

In fact, our building could have been the basis for “The Poseidon Adventure” because every time it rains, there’s a good 3-4 foot wide puddle which I’d have to ford in order to get to work. There is apparently a bridge somewhere in SoHo, but that’s just too far to walk.
There ARE a few things I’ll miss about New York, though. For one thing, a bunch of us would always order curry on Thursdays. Towards the end, the Chicken Tikka Masala (CTM to those of us in the know) was just about the only reason I went on Thursdays. Thanks, WinOps guys for turning me on to Little India.

I’ll also miss the energy that New York gives off. It’s hard to explain, but if you’ve never been there, you should really go. I’ll miss the coffees with my friends and colleagues, I’ll miss the parties (though as we got older, these slowed down considerably). And I’ll miss the great views we had of New York harbor, particularly when an interesting ship would glide past the windows. I’ll even miss the way the subway comes screaming into the station. I’ll miss my conversations about Islam with the guy who used to drive me home when I stayed late.

OK, so I have some good memories of New York. I really always loved being there. It was getting there that was a burden.

Goodbye, New York.