Monday, June 13, 2005

I go both ways

I heard a woman not only order "iced cawfee" but order it with all sorts of specifications about how much ice versus how much coffee and so forth. I saw more well-groomed dogs and people than I had in quite some time. I readjusted to blending in with those around me and not standing out for being dark-haired and pale, small, and dressed in what could best be described as attempted chic. I saw a serene-looking woman with frizzy gray hair and linen pants. I saw two middle-school girls, and then a third, all tiny and with shiny hair, having salad for lunch at an age when girls anywhere else wouldn't think to order salad for lunch. I spent the day on both the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side (not, alas, simultaneously; feel free to guess which of the above observations come from which) and really enjoyed walking around both.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's Chicago. Tans are rarer than student marshals.

Small, dark-haired, pale woman who never felt this made her out of place in Chicago. Never bothered with chic, though.

Phoebe Maltz Bovy said...

At Chicago I never felt out of place. In Chicago was another matter.

Maman said...

You haven't met many middle schoolers lately then, Phoebe! I have an 8 and 10 year old who always order salad... I would like to hope it is because they like vegetables, but I am more realistic than that. When the 8 year old asked to go shoe shopping a couple of years ago I could see which way the wind was blowing! Congrats on graduation!