Bible Girl Goes West

The Borders by Penn Station was having a closing-business sale, and I walked in, hoping to pass the time before my train and to buy more books I have no room for. I picked up a couple Saramago books in Spanish and headed to the Bibles section of the second floor, in the northeast corner of the store.

The Bibles aisle in that bookstore is no more than a couple feet wide, the window to the street on one side and a few Bibles on the other. I made my way to the end of it, and looked up and down for the Hebrew letters of the Masoteric OT, passing in front of a girl while blurting an "excuse me."

"Are you looking for a Bible?" the girl said. "Yes, but I can't seem to find it," I responded, a little confused at first. We began to talk. We exchanged a few sentences about our churches and the ESV. I asked if she worked around there, and she said she had just left her job around Union Square today. I was encouraged when I found out she lived in Queens, not too far from me. After our exchange, she said "well, nice meeting you," to which I responded in like manner, and the she walked away.

I stood there, staring up and down the Bibles bookshelf. After regaining consciousness, I kept on looking for the old Bible, and then threw a quarter in the air, thinking tails would excuse my hesitation. It fell on heads, and I interpreted it as lots saying I should get her number.

I saw her browsing around while heading out. I timed my walking so we would be standing together at the escalators and have a minute to talk on our way to the first floor. I said "hello, again" and then noticed she was holding flowers. She said they were for her sister, and then I chit-chatted a little more.

We got down to the first floor. I said to her, "I'm leaving, but I'd like to get your number, and we can get some coffee." She said she was sorry, but she was moving to L.A. the following week. "Ah, so that's why you left your job..." I managed to say, feeling deflated.

She said "I'm Lydia," I gave her my name, and we shook hands. I walked away, confused about how to feel, and didn't look back.

First CwS of the Year: The Line at Pommes Frites

NYE Midnight passed and, after we got our [alcoholic] fix, we headed to St. Marks to do some karaoke. After a couple hours of yelling, we got hungry. We headed to the Pommes Frites a couple blocks away, and stood at the end of a long line, in what ended up being the last call for [belgian] fries with mango chutney.

I left the line. My friends stayed. I stood by the side, thinking how much self-restraint I had exhibited this year so far. I wasn't drunk, I wasn't indulging in discretionary spending and I wasn't eating fatty foods. I stood absorbed in self-righteousness until the sound of my friends [verbally] fighting with a stranger caught my attention.

-My Friend 1: [...] I've been waiting here for a long time. I did not just cut the line.
-Random Guy from the line #1: You can curse all you want. Just because you like to curse a lot does not make you right.

After my friend and Random Guy #1 argued for a while, I interjected and took my friends' side. Eventually, the guy in front of my friends said that the guy behind us was in fact the rightful owner of that spot in the line, and after a few more almost-belligerent words, my friends gave the place to the guy.

Now, the guy behind Random Guy #1—we shall call him Random Guy #2—started claiming that he was supposed to be in front of my friends too. We all got angry. This guy was just messing with us, but his laughing didn't please us. He started winking at me; I called him gay; his friend interjected and asked me to stop calling his friend names.

We left the line after my friend got the [belgian] fries and we ate some while walking to the next bar.