Sunday, August 12, 2018
If You Can Make It There...
I spent a few days in New York this week for a work-related conference. Specifically, the conference hotel was actually on Times Square, so I had the pleasure of being accosted by costumed characters each morning as I headed out in desperate search of caffeine and breakfast. It was actually not entirely unlike when there used to be hookers there. And the windows in my room also fronted on the Square, so it was basically daylight all the time for me. Well, daylight in the form of a 200-foot H&M advertisement, but still.
I always enjoy being in New York, though at the same time I always hate being in New York. It is thrilling just to be in the midst of so many people, even if you do feel like hauling back and punching a lot of them. And the cultural opportunities are amazing, so long as you can get past the phalanx of national chain stores and restaurants that pen the tourists in. Plus, there are no alleys, so you get the chance to see everyone's trash just piled up on the sidewalks. Just think -- Katie Holmes' trash is in there somewhere!
For my part, I was largely in windowless rooms for seminars or indistinguishable bars for networking, which was all a mixed bag. One of my colleagues got an award, which was great, but the caterers decided to go big with a seafood entrée, which was not. My firm hosted a reception with mac and cheese bites, sliders, and ample alcohol, but it ended in me falling down the stairs and somehow slicing my leg open. And, of course, there was LaGuardia, where my return flight has never NOT been delayed and I have frequently resorted to Auntie Anne's pretzels as dinner. You stay classy, New York City.
I spent a few days in New York this week for a work-related conference. Specifically, the conference hotel was actually on Times Square, so I had the pleasure of being accosted by costumed characters each morning as I headed out in desperate search of caffeine and breakfast. It was actually not entirely unlike when there used to be hookers there. And the windows in my room also fronted on the Square, so it was basically daylight all the time for me. Well, daylight in the form of a 200-foot H&M advertisement, but still.
I always enjoy being in New York, though at the same time I always hate being in New York. It is thrilling just to be in the midst of so many people, even if you do feel like hauling back and punching a lot of them. And the cultural opportunities are amazing, so long as you can get past the phalanx of national chain stores and restaurants that pen the tourists in. Plus, there are no alleys, so you get the chance to see everyone's trash just piled up on the sidewalks. Just think -- Katie Holmes' trash is in there somewhere!
For my part, I was largely in windowless rooms for seminars or indistinguishable bars for networking, which was all a mixed bag. One of my colleagues got an award, which was great, but the caterers decided to go big with a seafood entrée, which was not. My firm hosted a reception with mac and cheese bites, sliders, and ample alcohol, but it ended in me falling down the stairs and somehow slicing my leg open. And, of course, there was LaGuardia, where my return flight has never NOT been delayed and I have frequently resorted to Auntie Anne's pretzels as dinner. You stay classy, New York City.
