The vortex

New York city is an adventure. I woke up around 5 am to the sound of pouring rain. Lightning, thunder and a downpour. On my way to work, I found that no trains were running uptown. No NQR, no 123, no 456. *#()_)&@#$(!*@)##! Scrambling, scrambling, brain moving like a computer over the city's transportation routes. AHA! The crosstown bus, and now I'm on a bus uptown. I was supposed to be at work as of right now.

It took 45 minutes to get to work on the M11. That makes it a 15 minute mile, more or less. Funny to think I could have walked and gotten there faster! Why didn't I ride my bike today?!?!

I don't know what it is, but it feels like New York is a vortex. Things happen here that just aren't supposed to happen. At least lately. The roads exploading from heat. And a tornado touched down in Brooklyn this morning. In another dimension, New York would be the black hole that everything and everyone gets sucked into. Were New York an animal it would eat its young. The weaker sacrificed to feed the others.

I guess that means that there is something special about New Yorkers. The survivors, having eaten our siblings a distant memory, but a memory nonetheless, not matter how far back in the brain it may be lodged. And sure, a bunch of Yankees might not seem like the greatest thing if you're, say, southern. But the whole world is represented, not just carpetbaggers. Giggle. There is a determination, a fight inside each of us. And sometimes, the city is your opponent. Traffic is your sparring partner. Then, the train. Racing to catch the express. Then other commuters your opponenets. Women in suits and heels with sneaker prints up their backs from sportsters beating them out for the one available cab on First Ave. And then stoplights, and pedestrians. The bob and weave around strollers and those clueless ones behind them strolling. Always a competition. Then, add in nature? Today I lost, or more had to concede once Mother Nature entered the competition. Subways flooded, and me, one of the few proud chumps unable to take a sick day.