A walk down Kenmare St is a walk down the old industrial backside of Manhattan. It is unreconstructed,and unyuppyfied. A pleasure, in short. I had to visit my ophthalmologist in Chinatown for my annual checkup and was extremely early. I got off a stop early on the subway so that I could continue my explorations of the Lower East Side/Soho. Walking down Kenmare St, I started ruminating about the obituary of John Updike of the New Yorker. He said that the typical New Yorker reacts to life out of town and to out of towners with “You have got to be kidding”. Then I further thought about an article in the Times about how shopping malls are faring in the present economic climate, particularly the largest, Mall of America. I have always hated malls. They are full of purveyors of mass produced garbage, massed mediocrity, feedlot restaurants, Kitsch. The article said that this mall is the largest tourist destination in America. Immediately the thought came to my mind, “you have got to be kidding”.
When I moved to Carlisle, PA, I yearned for some good French or Italian bread. I was told I should go to Mussolini’s Bakery in Hershey. I was offered a loaf that was so old that the interior moisture had thoroughly softened the crust and I could have tied the thing in a knot. I actually told him that he had to be kidding and walked out without another word. Mussolini looked completely baffled as everyone thought so highly of his bread.
A pub in Carlisle offered New York Style corned beef sandwiches. They cooked the corned beef on a griddle, which made the meat tough, stringy, greasy and salty. I looked at the New York Style sign again and thought, “you have got to be kidding”.
Yes, I think, “you have got to be kidding” is a good take on a New Yorker’s take on things out of town.
No comments:
Post a Comment