Politics
‘Why Do They Have to Do This in the Middle of the Day’
A bad mood takes a turn, a mysterious voice on the subway and more reader tales of New York City in this week’s Metropolitan Diary.
Fighting Mood
Dear Diary:
Feeling particularly cranky because of the unbearable heat and humidity, I was ready to pick a fight with anybody I encountered on my walk to a drugstore on the Upper West Side.
So I was ready to put my mental fighting gloves on as I approached a building superintendent who was blasting the sidewalk ahead of me with a hose.
Angry thoughts whirled through my head: Why do they have to do this in the middle of the day rather than early in the morning when there is less foot traffic? If I had an expensive pair of shoes on, they would get ruined. (I didn’t, but still …)
Just as I was thinking the super hadn’t noticed me and wasn’t going to bother turning off the hose so I could pass, he abruptly shut the water off and, with a broad smile, bowed deeply.
“See,” he said with his arms outstretched, “I made the sidewalk beautiful just for you!”
— Cathy Bernard
