On Tuesday it was as hot as the dickens, yet I sold several books. Today was picture perfect, and I sold only one - Francis Hodgson Burnett's enduring children's novel, first serialized in 1910, The Secret Garden. There's just no explaining it. Thanks, madam.
Yesterday, as my great niece/godchild, Danielle, and I were leaving the old house, I asked her to program my cell phone number into hers, in case we got separated on the crowded streets of Manhattan or the subway. I waited until we were outside lest her grandma, my sister, freak. Of course, there was something else in the back of my mind besides the possibility of being lost in a crowd. No one knows when the next terrorist attack will occur. Hopefully the monsters will never make it to our door again. I wasn't taking anything for granted.
I hadn't been on the subway in two years, the last time I set up the floating bookshop in the city. The results were not worth the hassle, no different from what I get in Brooklyn, where I can at least park for free.
Cell phones are great, but, like anything else in a free society, they are abused. Or maybe that's just a sign I'm not as sociable as I should be. People pass constantly with a phone pressed to an ear, oblivious to all else. I don't get it.
There was a bit of drama at the nearby bus shelter today. A middle aged Russian couple was bickering. The heavy set woman, totally inebriated, fell to the ground. Her companion (husband?) tried futilely to pull her to her feet. Someone flagged down a private ambulance, but the woman refused to go to the hospital, although she had suffered a cut to the forehead. "Nyet!" she said adamantly, waving a hand. The attendant did manage to help the companion get her onto the bench. Later, the guy, no doubt hammered himself but at least able to walk, had her up and tried to pull her along. Of course she fell, and he left her sitting there alone on the sidewalk. Many people stopped, concerned, but left when I explained the circumstances. Fortunately, EMS soon showed. When the woman again refused help ("Nyet!"), the team contacted the police. Eventually, the young officer assigned the task, speaking Russian, convinced the woman to go to the hospital. As we all know, things can get ugly on even the most beautiful of days. It's just life.
Thanks to my buddy, Adam, who just dropped off a massive donation of books.
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