Saturday Summary

I took the Staten Island Ferry to and from the island with a large group of Juniors from River View High School in Warsaw, Ohio. They were doing the exact same thing that I did: out and back—and I talked to one of the teachers when he suggested that the New York City Port was the biggest port in the world—something that’s not even remotely true. I would have guessed the Port of Rotterdam, but apparently Rotterdam has been left in the dust by the Port of Shanghai. The kids were well behaved and caused no problems. (And for the record, a brief part of this paragraph has been substantially edited–nothing bad, just stuff that could be misunderstood.)

Among other things I wandered by the World Trade Center site, which seems to have impossibly tall fences and lots of material blocking a good view of the site—I suppose that since construction of the Freedom Tower is underway, it is necessary. This was my first time to be in the neighborhood since—well, seemingly forever. I remember going up to the top of the World Trade Center as a kid in the mid 1980s with my Dad, and looking out over the world. It was a memorable experience.

I also went to Home – a restaurant that generates incredibly fond memories for me. I once dined there with my Great Aunt, having an amazing evening. Today I had biscuits and gravy, a dish served so quickly that I barely had time to finish ordering it before it appeared at my place. Like all restaurants in America, even upscale ones, the emphasis in the US seems to be on speed. Unfortunately, I found it too fast, and they delivered my bill before I was even done. I’ve ranted about this before, so it’s nothing new, but I’m not sure which annoys me more: Getting the bill before I’m done eating in the USA, or asking for the bill three times over the course of 20 or 30 minutes and still not getting it in Germany. That said, I enjoyed my meal and am thankful that the Amateur Gourmet reminded me about Home—not just once, but twice, since I started reading his blog..

Today Macy’s could have impressed me but instead one of their sales clerks annoyed me so much that I will no longer shop there, on a life time basis. I’m not sure if the clerk was lying to me or if the store policy really is designed to disempower employees, but the specifics don’t matter: I left having been belittled by a clerk when a tiny, insignificant, bit of goodwill could have left me a satisfied customer—who would have gone on to buy a couple hundred dollars worth of goods.

Suffice it to say, I’m still shopping.

And finally I had a celebrity encounter today. One of America’s outstanding actors, starring in such films “Wild Wild West,” “I, Robot,” (a film so simplistic I enjoyed in more in German than in English, this when I spoke no German), and “Hitch” was filming in the city today, right near my hotel. The film, “I am Legend,” sounds like an Oscar contender already:

Robert Neville is the last man alive. He busies himself with preparing for a nightly attack from the rest of the world – all of which have transformed into blood-thirsty vampires.

I’m not sure if another lawyer movie is going to showcase his talents all that well, and I cannot say that I’ll be in any rush to see the film when it comes out, even if I did see him run up the street and talk to a bunch of kids—just long enough for me to get a photo. Maybe I could embark on a career as a professional paparazzi.