The Metropolitan section of the New York Times offers a glimpse of its city dwellers’ day-to-day lives via the anecdotage, “Dear Dairy”. This contribution from John Hacket leads the list of diary contributions today.
“As I cycle on the promenade skirting the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge one recent evening, I notice a police boat heading at a 90-degree angle toward shore. There is no place for it to moor, but it steadily approaches.
“A police officer is standing on deck, which is level with the promenade. At this stage, I’m guessing he is readying himself to tie up and climb ashore as part of some emergency police action.
“Then I notice an Asian man holding a shopping bag at the railing on the promenade, right at the point where the boat is headed. In another moment the boat pulls up and the Asian man hands over the shopping bag in exchange for money from the officer.
“Of course: Chinese delivery, the East River version.”
It shows how the Rumsfeld-Ashcroft terror alert level system is still strongly ingrained within us initialing such a reaction in thought, at least, of whatever that could be ghastly. And, heaven forbid, we take it for granted that in New York City, Chinese take-out is not something out of the ordinary—not even for cops just taking a break from a beat that’s, well, out of the ordinary.
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