First of all it’s underground, which makes it kind of mysterious, like the catacombs in Rome or the Paris sewers. Not only is it violent and filthy and ugly, it smells bad, too, and if you get lost you’re out of luck because nobody down there speaks English. People who don’t like the city hate the subway. As it was, I had just enough time to catch a subway to the restaurant. I wanted to get home and take a shower before going to the restaurant – Bagel City, her choice – but I had to stay late to fit the last few pages of a rush job. At least she agreed to meet me for dinner the following Wednesday. She seemed serious, ambitious, pretty – if you like the dark, sharp-featured type whose tendons stand out on their necks when they laugh – and she seemed to like me, too. We ate on a bench in the little park nearby and talked. The boss wasn’t interested, but it was my lunch break, so I talked her into letting me buy her a falafel. She came in with her portfolio to see if she could pick up any business from our end. Her name was Janine and she was a book designer, or at least she wanted to be. I was on my way to have dinner with a girl I’d met the week before at the print shop where I work. I guess the last time I had doubts was in early fall. Next time you yell back at the guy on the street, you kick the cab, you carry your money in your shoe, you sue your landlord. It could be anything, but if you’re smart you learn from it. Someone yells at you on the street or a cab tries to run you down or your landlord starts playing tricks. You get mugged or robbed or your car gets stripped. I’m not saying I don’t have my doubts from time to time. It’s tough, and it makes you tough, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Add to that the rhythm, the grandeur, the sheer vitality of the place, and still people say how violent and filthy and ugly it is – but chances are they’re from New Jersey and don’t know any better. It’s a cosmological clearinghouse, Everyman’s Mecca. Anything you want, from the best to the worst, it’s here. People talk about how violent and filthy and ugly it is, and yeah, maybe it is.
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