Serendipity

[jethrien]

On my way to the PATH station, I passed a neighbor of mine. She was out with her car and another neighbor, practically begging people to let her drive them into the city. She needed her car after work today, but you can't get onto the island below 96th St without at least four people in the car. So I said, "Sure" and jumped in. We managed to flag down someone else a few minutes later, and off we drove. There was laughing and glee as the guy in front of us at the tunnel got sent back by the police, but they just waved us on in. It was surprisingly light traffic (the reports have been that everything's been backed up horribly for the last day or two). We figured that a lot of people are just taking off early for Christmas. We passed under the Brooklyn Bridge and watched the poor souls trudging across. She dropped us off at 42nd, much closer to my office than walking all the way from 33rd St. I got in half an hour early. And met a couple of very nice people from my block.

Comments

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I suspect a lot of people adjusted or added to their Christmas vacations to be out of the office for days 3 and 4 of the strike. That, and I suspect a lot of people encountered the horribly back up traffic yesterday and two days ago and opted to try harder to find carpools/work from home/walk.

Was this the same neighbor who put a sign on the front door? Apt 11, I think? I spotted it as I was leaving, but only gave it a cursory glance, what with not going to Manhattan and all.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Presumably so. I didn't really notice the sign, apparently. So I guess I just got a ride with our upstairs neighbor.

[(Anonymous)]

It's always nice when nice things happen to good people, people I love.

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

In the event of a transit strike, I have a feeling I would start cycling. *Even* in New York.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I'm a little surprised there aren't more bikers crossing the bridges from the outer boroughs, but then again, it's really cold outside; and New York doesn't really have a cycling culture. It's just not how New Yorkers (except bike messengers, though even most courier services use the subway) get around.

That's, and you'd have to take your bike up the elevator into the office. I don't care what you chain it to, a bike wouldn't last twenty minutes on the streets of Manhattan under normal circumstances, much less the current ones.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

But what do you do with your bike when you get there?

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

Good point. This is why I don't have a Real Job (TM) yet.

[elliewhit.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my parents keep telling me about walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to work in the transit strike before I was born.
People in my neighborhood near Washington used to collect into random carpools to take the HOV lanes. There were a lot of military officers going to the Pentagon so it worked out well and was pretty safe.
But I bet you're relieved the strike is over.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Ironically - I took today off. I'm not leaving home today.