A continuation of "Red, White, and Blue...."

Well, this morning seems colder and cloudier here in New York. Well, onto the continuation of my previous blog entry, “Red, White, & Blue. And yes, stress too.”

After arriving at the Mall station in Jersey City, I planned to buy my return ticket first (and get any problems over with), it is here where the station attendant explained the ticket machine to me. Since I wanted a single ride, I could only pay at the time I am about to get on to train. There is a few second time limit. No ticket. No receipt. No proof of purchase. With no attendant around, this is (in my opinion) an incredibly stupid system.

From the station to the mall, it is about a 7 minute walk. For some reason, the builders built an office complex between the station and the mall. Therefore, to go to the station, you have to walk through the office complex. So…..I walked through! Once in the office building and up the escalator there is a pedestrian bridge connecting the office building with the mall. There is a double door separating the office building from the bridge. Only one way to go! No other way around!

You are probably saying, “why is he writing about the passage to the mall?!?!?

As I am riding up the escalator, I can see a group of 5 or 6 people standing and conversing in front of the double doors! Stupid *****!!! The only way for me to go pass is to say excuses me. How stupid and inconsiderate does a person (or persons) have to be to not realize that standing in front of the only doors around is not a good idea. Second place has to go to the security guard – who waits until after I walk pass, to tell the group that they should not stand there. Yes, he was already standing on the floor, so he knew they were there before I got off of the escalator. Sorry, old age is making me increasingly cranky.

My nephew just arrived. He knocks instead of using his key, so my father has started yelling. And the phone just rang. And now he is yelling about keeping clothes…never mind!

Once in the Mall, it looks pretty much the same as I remembered it. The first place I planned to go is my favorite place….the food court! But before I get on line to order at my favorite restaurant, I decide to go to the bathroom. As I walk past the woman’s bathroom, I silent laugh to myself, and think about how glad I am to not have been born female. There is a line of 8 to 10 women waiting outside to use the bathroom. While I am looking at the women’s line, I am trying not to smile. I was telling myself that I’ll be in and out of the men’s bathroom before the next woman on line. I open the men’s bathroom, and…There is a line! There are four men before me, and two toilets. Am I bothered, no not really. The line is still shorter than the women’s line. So I decide to wait. I am a little slow, and I am not very bright. It is only after a couple of minutes does it occur to me that the doors (and the dividers) around the toilets have been removed! I have a shy bladder, and I realize that I really didn’t have to go to the bathroom.

I ate lunch at “Panda Express”. I love their Chinese food. I had the 2-item combo. With the main dish of fried rice (or lo mein), you have a choice of any two combinations. I ordered the fried rice with Kon Pou chicken and sweet and sour chicken, and a melon juice. Good Lunch!

After lunch, I walked around the mall. Bought three white shirts, and a catalog. And I returned to New York. I guess you can tell that I am now tired of typing. But I have one more anecdote.

I took the PATH train back to New York; I got off at 14th street. For those of you who don’t know, 14th street is downtown. I planned to go to the nearby McDonald’s. I’d wanted to go back to the “Panda Express” but I did not want to look like a pig, and the lines for Burger King in the food court were too long. So, to McDonald’s I went.

Inside I could see, there were about 2 customers eating, two customers on line, and one cashier. Not bad I told myself. I’ll be in and out in no time. I go inside the place is one of the big ones maybe 50 or 60 seats on the first floor, with more seats upstairs. There are 5 cash registers, but only one cashier on duty. As I approach the line I quickly realized that I will probably be writing a longer blog. First the staff. About 5 employees all in their late teens (or early 20s). I think two are by the fry machine to clean it or change the oil. One is strolling and stacking trays. Two or three more are in the back. Lots of laughing and joking. Oh, and there was the manager who seemed reluctant to get angry, or take charge. He was the one who brought my fries and burger to the cashier. I felt like I was in a high school cafeteria with part-time students in charge.

But wait! There’s more. There was a woman customer with her daughter (?), her teenage son – he looked like a future basketball player. He was tall. The son was carrying his little brother (!?) The little boy was about 1 or 2 years old.

Now my father is arguing with his lady friend as I am typing this.

Well, the little boy wants to do something, so he is getting fidgety. The teenager puts down the little boy. The little boy takes two steps and falls on his face, he screams. The mother is shouting across the room to the daughter (who is now sitting at a table with another girl), “what do you want to eat? What do you want to drink? So while the baby is crying, the mother is shouting, a couple of employees are goofing-off by the French fry machine, only one thought comes to mind. But I just deleted it from this entry. Sorry!

I was surprised. This…… “spectacle” is something I would only see in my neighborhood. But here I am downtown. What has happened while I’ve been out of the country?

Oh, you are probably asking why I stayed. I knew that once I got on the train, it is not really a good idea to be outside in my neighborhood after dark. See the previous blog. Also, my father decided to cook. What did he make? Red kidney beans, white rice…it would have added nicely to the title and the theme of this blog if the final ingredient was something blue, but no. The final item on the menu was…cow feet! No, that is not a typo. According to my father, cow feet (although they look like pigs feet), they are healthier.

After eating, I go to the train station and wait for the uptown express. I watch as two local trains arrive, and I see many people getting on the local. I am also standing next to a sign that says that all trains will be running on the local track. So the next train that comes…a local, I get on. 2 or 3 minutes later while the train I was riding is at a local station, the express zooms past. ****!!!

Well, that it for now. I am not sure how the photos will save on this blog, so I will just briefly describe them in the order they were taken:

The golden globe was moved to the park in Bowling Green Park. It used to be located at the World Trade Center site.
Korean War Memorial
A couple of photos of the Statute of Liberty seen from Manhattan island.
Glass atrium that is all that remains (I think) of the Twin Towers.
Various photos taken around the perimeter of the former WTC site.
Various photos of the posters of the WTC site.
One way sign strange composite. Charred building (draped in a flag), and charred street signs almost to nowhere.
My Panda Express lunch
A photo of 14th street station.
My refund ticket for the PATH train.