By: Gabriela Yareliz
There is this 1 train that has a set of doors that don’t work. The local stop side opens fine, so you get on and don’t suspect a thing. Then, you get to the express stop, and only one opens, and the other door just stonewalls you. It’s always that awkward moment when I go to step out, and it doesn’t open. The person on the other side often just starts tugging on the unmovable door. It doesn’t open. I was on that train three times last week. It was always the express stop surprise. Always almost walking into the stiff unopened door. But I digress.
As I exited through the door that does open, passing through the agitated and annoyed people waiting for us to exit so they can go in, I was reminded of Summer Stage. Maybe it’s all the U.S. Open promotions happening on train and station ads, or the haze of smoke I had to walk through to get to my delayed train.
Summer Stage. Maybe they still do this, but back when I was in law school, there was a Summer Stage in Central Park that would host a series of concerts. I went to the French music concert day, and it was basically a haze of smoke. I should have expected it, but I hadn’t. When I arrived, I walked through the haze precariously stepping over the attendees who were sitting on the floor with their wine, cheese and an abundance of cigarettes. Sounds cliché, but this is exactly what happened.
The smoke was so insane, I left after like three sets. I could barely see the stage or breathe properly. There are new experiences that stay with us, partially due to the absurdity of the experience.
NYC is definitely a place of absurd summer. The heat, the trash everywhere, the crowds, the trains with the heater on, the fact that people vape on public transport and act like the cloud of smoke is invisible, and they are really sneaky.
As the weather gets cooler, we are all over the absurdity of the NYC summer. The time has come for change.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 