Urban Granny

 

Part of living downtown is that using the New York subway system is a must. This daily activity of using the NYC transit system can be a quick and easy way of transporting around the city or it can be a nightmare. One thing is certain, you will have a story to tell.

Living at the crossroads of Wall Street and Broad Street makes me feel that I live in NY Central. I can get to virtually every part of New York, almost every line can be had from lower Manhattan. We now go to so many different parts of the city, this never happened when we lived uptown. Now for the subway story of the day.

Yesterday I had the delightful pleasure of meeting my daughter-in-law for a quick lunch and to help her pick out blinds.  No problem…. I rode the 4 up to 59th and changed to the 6 to get off at 68th. We were meeting on 67th. It was an easy trip with plenty of seats at 11:45 a.m when I started my trip.

I was so pleased and happy as I made my way back after lunch a picking the blinds.

We walked down to 59th and we decided to take the local 6 since she works in the twenties and had to get off on 23rd. To our surprise it was the most crowded early afternoon 6 either of us had ever been on. Then it was announced it was to make only express stops to City Hall. Sarah got off at 42nd to switch to an actual 6 and I stayed on deciding to switch to the 4,5 at City Hall. There was no room to sit, we had been pressed against the door. Then it happened, the man next to us took out a comb and started to  comb his straggly beard. He combed bending over into those of us standing, oblivious to our disgust, What could he have been thinking? This is now placed close to the top of my awful subway rides.

 Every fall New York Magazine  runs an article about volunteer opportunities. You would be amazed at how many organizations put an age limit on volunteers. Our own city government is the worse example. New York City publishes volunteer opportunities monthly, most do not allow for anybody over 54. New York Magazine listed New York Cares, you know it as the coat drive people, but actually it provides over 5 thousand hands on opportunities monthly. They also love having 50+. I have looked at the listing every year but for some reason I finally acted on my impulse to do something different and helpful. It is easy to participate, seamless and you feel so exhilarated when you have finished. I have tutored computer, delivered meals to homebound elderly, painted paper Mache giraffes in Harlem and beautified playgrounds on the upper Westside.

Hands on opportunities are really good for the soul. It feels great to give back.