Like most people whose sole impression of New York is through the movies, reality shows and songs I thought New York was this big glamorous place where most people dress like they do on Project Runway and attend all the best restaurants, films, museums, etc. you catch my drift...
Needless to say I was shocked when one of the first things to greet me was the dark and danky subway where no matter what time a day you got on, there was guaranteed to be someone covered up under a torn dirty blanket taking a nap. And where the station/stops are just plain filthy.
So it turns out, New York is a real place, with real people struggling with real issues. How could I already have forgotten the recent historical facts that I knew?
Fact 1: Tragedy of 911
It was late August 2001 and my two sisters and I had just gotten back to Jamaica from our first no-parents trip, as teenagers, to Detroit. Only a couple days later, September 11, 2001, I would sit transfixed looking at the TV in horror at the World Trade Center collapsing with all those people in it. Fast forward 13 years later to my time in Brooklyn where I asked my gracious host to recall that day for me. She told me of the many children who were able to see it from their schools. I wondered how many of those children, now adults, received counselling?
Fact 2: How many times has Wall Street crashed? Who were the families affected?
Fact 3: Hurricane Sandy 2012
Just when people are picking up the pieces and getting on with life here comes the unexpected hurricane Sandy devastating with flood waters. Once again people lose their lives. Others lose their homes.
Fact 4: Booming Immigrant City
Add to this the daily injection of new immigrants not fully aware of the real New York and all the struggles and with an expectant attitude of the fast-paced glamorous life. I've spoken with Mexican deportees after their release from US border patrol and I've seen the sparkle that in their eyes when they talk about the New York they know from the movies. If only they knew that the Nirvana they are risking their lives for is not real...
This all makes for a very strained society with some unmet expectations and frustrations. And honestly, that's what I saw...
On the subway, in people's faces I could read the recent and maybe longstanding history of the real New York. In a bookstore I visited I picked up a book where inside it said:
New York has given so much to the world (and major production companies) in terms of culture; good food, innovation, music, fashion and films. My hope and prayer is that the wealth of this world influence can be equitably shared in the society so that every New Yorker can have even a taste of that glamorous life (depicted in movies and reality TV), starting with cleaner and more cheerful subways.
~Love God,Live life,One Enkounter at a Time~
Needless to say I was shocked when one of the first things to greet me was the dark and danky subway where no matter what time a day you got on, there was guaranteed to be someone covered up under a torn dirty blanket taking a nap. And where the station/stops are just plain filthy.
So it turns out, New York is a real place, with real people struggling with real issues. How could I already have forgotten the recent historical facts that I knew?
Fact 1: Tragedy of 911
It was late August 2001 and my two sisters and I had just gotten back to Jamaica from our first no-parents trip, as teenagers, to Detroit. Only a couple days later, September 11, 2001, I would sit transfixed looking at the TV in horror at the World Trade Center collapsing with all those people in it. Fast forward 13 years later to my time in Brooklyn where I asked my gracious host to recall that day for me. She told me of the many children who were able to see it from their schools. I wondered how many of those children, now adults, received counselling?
Fact 2: How many times has Wall Street crashed? Who were the families affected?
Fact 3: Hurricane Sandy 2012
Just when people are picking up the pieces and getting on with life here comes the unexpected hurricane Sandy devastating with flood waters. Once again people lose their lives. Others lose their homes.
Fact 4: Booming Immigrant City
Add to this the daily injection of new immigrants not fully aware of the real New York and all the struggles and with an expectant attitude of the fast-paced glamorous life. I've spoken with Mexican deportees after their release from US border patrol and I've seen the sparkle that in their eyes when they talk about the New York they know from the movies. If only they knew that the Nirvana they are risking their lives for is not real...
This all makes for a very strained society with some unmet expectations and frustrations. And honestly, that's what I saw...
On the subway, in people's faces I could read the recent and maybe longstanding history of the real New York. In a bookstore I visited I picked up a book where inside it said:
"Everybody must live in New York at least once in their lives but not long enough to let it harden you."
New York has given so much to the world (and major production companies) in terms of culture; good food, innovation, music, fashion and films. My hope and prayer is that the wealth of this world influence can be equitably shared in the society so that every New Yorker can have even a taste of that glamorous life (depicted in movies and reality TV), starting with cleaner and more cheerful subways.
~Love God,Live life,One Enkounter at a Time~
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