New York has a primitive and brutal subway system, a tribute to the triumph of free enterprise over government planning. What the heck is wrong with having escalators, as they do in London, Paris and Madrid? Ah yes, Europe, so much more civilized! I swear you need to climb up and down hundreds and hundreds of steps just to get around this city on the subway. With my arthritic knee I would have killed this past week for an escalator or, better yet, lots of cash to spend on taxis.
Alexis always takes me to new and interesting restaurants when I visit her in New York and this past week was no exception. We ate great food: West Indian, English, and authentic BBQ in Brooklyn with her boyfriend, Curtis, and his family. She and I, of course, also went to the little diner around the corner from her apartment. I also had a two-buck hot dog from a cart in Central Park, and lox, bagels and cream cheese at a typical NY Deli on Second Ave. I did not put on a pound either, because when I was not eating I was chasing Alexis down the street, jumping on and off buses, climbing the two flights to her apartment, -- and most aerobic of all -- the endless subway stair-stepper!
Alexis was on spring break but had studying and work to do. She is in grad school full time and has two jobs, one at Baruch College and the other at Baby Bo's Mexican restaurant in mid-town. Part of her job at Baruch is to coordinate community service activities for the students in the class in career planning which she teaches. The freshman students have to put in a certain number of community service hours (just as the judge ordered Lindsay Lohan to do!)
This week she took her students to a soup kitchen in Harlem run by Food Bank NYC, which serves dinner to well over 700 people each night. We had to set up for dinner, serve it, and clean up afterward, and she asked me to go along. Monday night's dinner was baked fish, potatoes, corn, salad and cookies. The people were very hungry, and many kept thanking us volunteers. We had all worked hard and found the experience rewarding. On Thursday, the day I left, Alexis took a larger group of her students to work at the Food Bank warehouse in Manhattan, where the food for the soup kitchens is packaged and then distributed all over the city.
This sort of experience was indeed rewarding, but it was also an upsetting reality check, especially for someone like me who always eats so well while in NYC (and even in Minneapolis!). I kept thinking during our volunteer shift that it is not enough to just get upset. It was very clear that without volunteers, Food Bank New York would never be able to function. I am sure there are many such places here in the Twin City area, in fact my husband used to work for one, and I could put my "upset" reaction to good use.
When you think about it, what is really primitive and brutal is the fact that so many people in our world are desperate for a good meal and few of us who eat so well everyday do much to change this situation. Are we sure the British and European "welfare state" is such a terrible idea? Maybe someday the term civilized will include the meaning that people do not go hungry in the world.
Alexis was on spring break but had studying and work to do. She is in grad school full time and has two jobs, one at Baruch College and the other at Baby Bo's Mexican restaurant in mid-town. Part of her job at Baruch is to coordinate community service activities for the students in the class in career planning which she teaches. The freshman students have to put in a certain number of community service hours (just as the judge ordered Lindsay Lohan to do!)
This week she took her students to a soup kitchen in Harlem run by Food Bank NYC, which serves dinner to well over 700 people each night. We had to set up for dinner, serve it, and clean up afterward, and she asked me to go along. Monday night's dinner was baked fish, potatoes, corn, salad and cookies. The people were very hungry, and many kept thanking us volunteers. We had all worked hard and found the experience rewarding. On Thursday, the day I left, Alexis took a larger group of her students to work at the Food Bank warehouse in Manhattan, where the food for the soup kitchens is packaged and then distributed all over the city.
This sort of experience was indeed rewarding, but it was also an upsetting reality check, especially for someone like me who always eats so well while in NYC (and even in Minneapolis!). I kept thinking during our volunteer shift that it is not enough to just get upset. It was very clear that without volunteers, Food Bank New York would never be able to function. I am sure there are many such places here in the Twin City area, in fact my husband used to work for one, and I could put my "upset" reaction to good use.
When you think about it, what is really primitive and brutal is the fact that so many people in our world are desperate for a good meal and few of us who eat so well everyday do much to change this situation. Are we sure the British and European "welfare state" is such a terrible idea? Maybe someday the term civilized will include the meaning that people do not go hungry in the world.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteDon't tell Harry I said that.