Walk in New York

We had just finished lunch at Jamie’s restaurant in the Lower East Side.
Fall in New York, couple of months before the pandemic.
In the air, not a clue of what lied ahead for everyone.

I used to bring clients to his place, great service you know, the humanized type.

I was having a word with him at the door, while waiting for a cab.

We noticed a middle-aged man sitting alone on a bench, not a hobo, just oblivious to the city buzz.

-What’s up with him? I asked Jamie.
-Oh, he’s often at the park… one quiet dude right? He replied smiling.

He came to have lunch once -Jamie added- and then, he ordered a dessert! Everyone rushing in and out and he just sat there with a piece of cake, a coffee, smiling. That guy…

Jamie suddenly rushed in back to work and waved back, haven’t seen him since.

It’s hard to get a cab in New York after lunch, sometimes it takes forever.

I was going to be late for my next meeting. Hell with it, decided to walk.

Along the way I picked up a gelato -a passion fruit one- and it was almost like eating sun rays, so invigorating, felt like golden chlorophyll… I’m so dramatic sometimes.

Called my next client, said I’d be a few minutes late and he was also late, so all good, I slowed the pace.

And I remember walking uptown on 3rd Ave., enjoying a gelato like a kid without the slightest care and smiling all along the way.

The Wait Light Sculpture

Most times we could categorize waiting as a passive/defensive state of expectation, but fundamentally waiting for me should be construed as awareness; which is certainly proactive and clearly devoid of any expectation.

...Maybe the kind of thing that makes you sit down and enjoy a piece of cake in the middle of the day.