As mentioned yesterday, I took the Bolt Bus to New York City to attend a baby shower. The Bolt Bus pick-up/drop-off point is in front of a diner near Penn Station. After arriving in NYC in late morning, I had 90 minutes to kill, so I decided to stroll in the seasonally crowded Times Square/Broadway area.
Because I know that New Yorkers hang out in Times Square about as often as Bostonians hang out in Cheers, I assume that 90% of the crowd are tourists, and divide them into three groups: 1- International tourists, seeking to rape and pillage our economy 2- Tourists who fashion themselves as New Yorkers at heart, and make an effort to blend in with the scenery, and 3- Tourists who appear to have been going to their local Home Depot when they somehow ended up in Times Square, and they’re wandering around in practical shoes and t-shirts, slack-jawed and dazed.
It was a broiling day, in the mid 90s, the first day of a heat wave expected to subside on Tuesday. I lingered in stores with arctic AC to prevent myself from melting into a sopping puddle of sweat before the baby shower. Many stores open the front doors to let the cool air seep into the street and lure pedestrians. With no intention of buying anything, I wound up browsing in roughly a dozen stores: Ann Taylor Loft, Crate and Barrel, H&M, Foot Locker, The Body Shop, Bath and Body Works, and Macys.
Isn’t it curious how everyone comes to New York to shop in their favorite mall stores? As if seeing the stores in the context of New York makes the shopping experience that much more special? As if they’ll be able to brag about how they shopped at the Old Navy in Manhattan whenever they go to their local Old Navy: I mean, this fleece just doesn’t compare to the fleece I saw in New York City. Talk about some nice fleece!
I realized: Hey, I’m so over the touted glamour of New York City and its Sex, that has spawned all these women tottering around on high heels and carrying three luxury bags a piece, emulating a ridiculous caricature set forth by an over-hyped television show that sucked after the second season, trying to project this fantasy life of whirlwind romance and ultra-feminine savviness… while shepherding their brats around the M&M store! Are you kidding me?
