Sudden Showers

I awoke to sun, humidity...and a phone call. The Acme wanted me to come in at noon...and it was quarter of 10. I said "yes," but only because I really need the money. I don't mind coming in when people ask me well ahead of time, but usually when they call me like that, it's because someone's panicking for no reason.

As I discovered when I finally made it in at 12:15, that proved to be the case. We weren't busy, and would be on-and-off steady all day. There was a reason for this. The weather was off-and-on all day, too. Dark clouds were gathering even as I rode to the Acme. It rained hard around 2PM, and again around 4. Thankfully, I don't think it's rained since then.

We had to deal with customers who were upset for other reasons, too. Evidently, most of Audubon, Mt. Ephram, and Bellmawr had lost power, including all the businesses and street lights on the Black Horse Pike too, including WaWa and PNC. According to one customer, it came back on after four hours. I have no idea what happened. The Acme never lost power, and it looks like my apartment didn't, either. My digital alarm clock isn't flashing.

It slowed down enough by 7PM for me to hurry out without a relief. Though clouds were gathering on the horizon as I rode home, it has yet to rain again. I had a quick shower, then finished out Broadway: The American Musical while eating leftovers for dinner. I have fond memories of many of the shows that turned up in "Tradition" and "Putting It Together." The "I Love New York" commercials featuring whatever Broadway shows and celebrities were hot that year used to run on Channel 9 and 11 all the time when I was a kid in the 80s. I saw the ads for Phantom of the Opera, City of Angels, and Cats, and thought this is glamour...this is Broadway!

My mother didn't agree. She wouldn't let us near New York for years, having heard far too many horror stories about the horrible shape it was in during the 70s, 80s, and much of the 90s. I was surprised when she let me go there in 2001 for that WENN Convention - I guess she figured it would be ok if I was in a group.

The Times Square I saw in June 2001 was a very different place from what I encountered on a class trip to New York in high school around 1995. Our bus going back from that trip got caught in traffic in Times Square. We saw hustlers, panhandlers people in fine clothes on their way to a show, sailors (who flirted with some of the girls!), and assorted grimy bootleg items sellers. When I visited a quiet, early-morning Times Square, I saw a very different side of the city - newly-washed, softly sun-dappled, with almost no one but me and the Disney Store around.