A Tale of 2008 (More or Less)

TWO years ago, right around the second week of January, I was in Times Square crossing from the corner of West 43rd Street to the traffic island that sits between Seventh and Broadway. Now, perhaps it was because it was raining, or because the holiday tourism crunch was well over or a combination of both, congestion (pedestrian and vehicle) was uncharacteristically light.

Upon reaching that traffic island, the only other soul there was a tourist. If I had to guess, her accent was pure Oklahoma. Quite loudly and clearly, I could hear her exclaim into her cell phone: "Oh my God, you would not believe all the people here in Times Square!" The way she spoke, the person on the other end of that call was likely lead to believe that there were a few THOUSAND people immediately surrounding her.

I looked around, not only at the traffic island, but also at the sidewalks to the east AND west. I could have crossed the street in either direction, stood on either sidewalk and with my arms extended, spun around and not hit EIGHT people.

One more thing: a very special New Year greeting to Laine. Happy 2008!