Meandering

Best laid plans and all of that. We dropped the car off at the dealer where we were told it would be a couple of hours. Danger; there is no valid definition for a ‘couple of’. In my mind it is 2 hours, no more and no less. At a car dealer, a ‘couple of’ is an unlimited number; 2, 4, 24, etc. But enough of that; we went across the street to the shopping center where we split up. I went to Starbucks, hoping for a pleasant morning of reading the NY Times and exercising the mind. Unfortunately, the store was crowded, dirty and noisy. The music was being played at hyper levels and so the conversations had to increase as well. Finally admitting defeat, I decided to go outside even though it was windy.

Jeekers! The music was being played outside as well. What are they thinking? I spotted a table that was all by itself and away from the speakers and that’s where I settled in. I opened my paper; that was when one of the locals decided to rearrange the outdoor furniture; shuffling tables and chairs all about until he had them spaced equally. 5 tables and each with two chairs. (Why?) My once lonely table was now but half a dozen feet away from the next table; the one where he sat down and lit up a cigarette. To compound that felony, one of his pals wandered by, sat down and lit one up. That did it! I headed back to the dealership, hoping that the waiting room was quiet. Even if it wasn’t quiet, there wouldn’t be any smoking.

Now the waiting began. But I did have a good newspaper to read and I had a chance to read it from cover to cover. There are lots of things I don’t care for in New York and I probably wouldn’t want to live there, but as I read through the theatre and movie ads I grew envious. So many great movies to see! (Indie and foreign films) I remembered when I was working in Connecticut and we would visit an ‘art film’ house in Bantam every weekend. Saw Diabolique and Mr. Hulot’s Holiday. I know if I lived in New York, I would be in the theatres all of the time. And the art galleries! Amazing… but I was startled to see an art exhibit where you had to pay for admission?

Finally the wait was over and the ‘couple of’ hours turned out to be 4, but they washed the car for us as gesture of goodwill. And with any luck at all we won’t be back for quite a few months…or at least a couple.