The Reality

Life On The Street


I love New York streets. I don't love driving them, but I love walking them. Tonight we had to run some errands after work and I was starving. On almost every corner is a food vendor. No bag of chips or candy bar when you can get fresh roasted nuts or any one of a dozen ethnic dishes. You can almost buy anything you need in the way of food or clothing without ever leaving the sidewalk. Weather suddenly turn cold, buy a pashmina, hat, gloves, jacket. Sudden downpour, there is an umbrella for sell on every corner. Long before moving to New York I knew that purses, watches, perfume and sunglasses were cheap and easily found on every street. From April through November there are street fairs every weekend. In Texas, where I hail from, a street fair means arts and crafts. In New York it means being able to buy amazing food, fruit, candy apples, knock-off purses, watches, sunglasses, jewelry. There are booths set up to sell socks, sheets, tools and toys imported from China. There's ice cold lemonade, "one dollar, one dollar." There are massage booths and fortune tellers too. Even when I was flat broke I loved being on the street just to watch the sights. There is nothing like a good street performance. The tumblers seem to draw the biggest crowds. I would never walk as far to see, do or buy something anywhere else. It would just be a walk to a destination. In New York, half the fun is getting there.