Thursday, February 5, 2009

Meet Me At Playground Ave & Recess St

In a city where there are nearly no backyards, people find ways of making do. The first time I saw two guys tossing a football in the middle of 8th avenue I clenched my teeth in sympathy fear of the oncoming traffic. The second time was in the subway where I gazed in wonderment, pondering if they would go in after the ball should it fall into the tracks. The third time it wasn't even a football but a pink, stuffed shark. Unfortunately, the shark fell to great casualty when the plucky little girl tossing him tossed a bit too high and a tree nabbed him.But this phenomenon doesn't seem to end with contact sports. There are TONS of gigantic polar bears, horses and lions in this city - otherwise known as dogs. You see, if you're walking a giant dog around, it means you must have the space to keep it in. Which in turn means you can afford a very large, expensive apartment, which in turn means you are a successful New Yorker. But just because you have an apartment large enough for the dog to fit in, doesn't mean there is enough room for it to run around in. Those things need exercise and when they don't get enough of it, they take matters into their own hands.

EXHIBIT A
EXHIBIT B
EXHIBIT C
Okay, that last one was a real horse. But it's what the cops in my neighborhood "drive" and I just had to throw it in there. But my favorite so far is when upon walking home from a delicious Thai restaurant I came upon a snowman hailing a cab. New Yorkers are nothing if not resourceful.