Time Flies

Thankfully, my business trip was moved to next week. Whew.

It's usually the other way around - people always seem to schedule a meeting before the meeting in order to preview or decide things. The logic baffles me, cramming both pre-meeting and meeting in the space meant for one meeting, but it happens all the time. We may as well work blindfolded with one arm tied behind our backs.

Today the weather in New York was warmer than most spring days. People were eating lunch outside at sidewalk cafes. I abandoned my winter puffy coat for a much more flattering one.

The world is coming to an end, but for the most superficial reasons, it's a nice reprieve. Everyone expands an extra 20% in their puffy coats. The subways have been more packed than usual.

I've been tempted to whip out my camera while packed among my fellow passengers, to show how ridiculous it can be. I'll have to figure out how to grab the center pole with one hand and snap photos of faces 6 inches away with the other, while minding my purse. If I can master upright subway picture-taking without being pummeled, I will run away and join Cirque du Soleil.

The last few days I've been seeing people I know in the streets - an old co-worker, a friend of a friend, and the clothing designer Isaac Mizrahi. (I know Isaac, but sadly he doesn't know me, though for several months a million years ago, I worked for one of his good friends).

I've also been hearing about people - how an ex-coworker is divorcing after only a couple years, after marrying the guy who seemed the love of her life. They'd had an intense, up-and-down relationship that rivaled Carrie and Mr. Big.

And then another coworker gave birth to a boy, when I didn't even know she was pregnant or that she even wanted a family. And finally, another old coworker and friend is dealing with a brain tumor after just getting married last summer. I'd gone to her wedding, and it boggles my mind that she'd known about her condition at the time.

I have to wonder sometimes, what planet some people are on. They must revolve around the sun at a much faster rate than I do. Perhaps at night they walk by the light of two moons.


Photo by myself on an earlier rainy day, on lower Broadway.