some contemplation on the season...
Dec. 23rd, 2008 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmanA Recession seems to bring out the mellow in people. In New York, anyway.
I broke one of my cardinal rules this week, and went into midtown the day before Christmas Eve to have lunch with a friend, hit the Columbus Circle Winter Fair, and do some shopping. And in doing so I discovered, to my surprise, that the usual Frantic Festive Follies aren't in evidence. Unlike post-9/11, when we were all still shocky and tense, there was cheer, but of a softer, more rueful sort. People were shopping, but casually, actually looking rather than grab-and-bag like some kind of Beat the Clock game. There were a lot of people in restaurants, coffee shops, and wine bars, sitting and talking. Mass transit was crowded but polite, and the smiles people gave each other were the kind of smile you gave a loved one during Thanksgiving -- weary, a little stressed, but honest and true. 'We're all in this one together,' they seemed to be saying. 'Nothing to be done but keep on keeping on.'
It was... refreshing, honestly. Rather than coming home cranky with the world, I actually feel kinda well-disposed toward it.
I'm sure this will last just until I have to go through security at JFK.
I broke one of my cardinal rules this week, and went into midtown the day before Christmas Eve to have lunch with a friend, hit the Columbus Circle Winter Fair, and do some shopping. And in doing so I discovered, to my surprise, that the usual Frantic Festive Follies aren't in evidence. Unlike post-9/11, when we were all still shocky and tense, there was cheer, but of a softer, more rueful sort. People were shopping, but casually, actually looking rather than grab-and-bag like some kind of Beat the Clock game. There were a lot of people in restaurants, coffee shops, and wine bars, sitting and talking. Mass transit was crowded but polite, and the smiles people gave each other were the kind of smile you gave a loved one during Thanksgiving -- weary, a little stressed, but honest and true. 'We're all in this one together,' they seemed to be saying. 'Nothing to be done but keep on keeping on.'
It was... refreshing, honestly. Rather than coming home cranky with the world, I actually feel kinda well-disposed toward it.
I'm sure this will last just until I have to go through security at JFK.
