Second Encounter: Amusing Ignorance and Brazenness in the Big Apple
My visit in April found New York City at her best mood. The sun was shining graciously, the temperature was perfect, and the wind was blowing softly on my hair. A fine day, as aptly summoned up by an old man standing on the roadside when he audibly mumbled, “You just gotta love Manhattan in summer.” An opinion that I fully shared, and I chuckled wholeheartedly.
Alas, as with my previous, I was in NY for a business trip. The UNSC was holding yet another debate and my times in the Big Apple were mostly confined to chambers; both referred to my bedchamber and THE Chamber. I managed to have my fair share of sunlight though, not to say perspiration, of running back and forth between the Mission and the UN.
The Pope was in New York, too. His visit to NY was heavily covered in every newspapers and TV channels to make sure everybody was aware of it. With the exception of, as it turned out, the good people of the UK. They were unaware of the Papal visit, and unwittingly scheduled the visit of Gordon Brown at the same time as the Pope’s. Some papers made fun of it, and one printed a particularly catching headline:
"The Pope is in the Big Apple."
"And so is the British Prime Minister."
As the PM made the most of his visit by meeting Obama, Clinton, and McCain, I made the most of mine by watching late night TV programs. It wasn’t long though, before I got really annoyed by incessant commercials of black-suited lawyers playing Good Samaritan with their unnatural white teeth and offering legal counsel to unfortunate people recently involved in accidents. Be they work-related accidents; accidents due to poor public facilities; due to negligence by others; or simple you-should-have-known-better accidents, a horde of lawyers stood ready to sue anyone of your choice. Types of accidents covered knew no boundaries that a wild idea occurred to me to sue the lawyers themselves as I almost cracked my jaw laughing out loud at their shamelessness.
Well, I knew better. I didn’t cherish the idea of a neighbor suing me for his disturbed sleep over my boisterous laughter, so I turned off the telly and pulled my blanket. And so it was, a day in life that sometimes could be so full of amusing things, and I chuckled wholeheartedly.
Alas, as with my previous, I was in NY for a business trip. The UNSC was holding yet another debate and my times in the Big Apple were mostly confined to chambers; both referred to my bedchamber and THE Chamber. I managed to have my fair share of sunlight though, not to say perspiration, of running back and forth between the Mission and the UN.
The Pope was in New York, too. His visit to NY was heavily covered in every newspapers and TV channels to make sure everybody was aware of it. With the exception of, as it turned out, the good people of the UK. They were unaware of the Papal visit, and unwittingly scheduled the visit of Gordon Brown at the same time as the Pope’s. Some papers made fun of it, and one printed a particularly catching headline:
"The Pope is in the Big Apple."
"And so is the British Prime Minister."
As the PM made the most of his visit by meeting Obama, Clinton, and McCain, I made the most of mine by watching late night TV programs. It wasn’t long though, before I got really annoyed by incessant commercials of black-suited lawyers playing Good Samaritan with their unnatural white teeth and offering legal counsel to unfortunate people recently involved in accidents. Be they work-related accidents; accidents due to poor public facilities; due to negligence by others; or simple you-should-have-known-better accidents, a horde of lawyers stood ready to sue anyone of your choice. Types of accidents covered knew no boundaries that a wild idea occurred to me to sue the lawyers themselves as I almost cracked my jaw laughing out loud at their shamelessness.
Well, I knew better. I didn’t cherish the idea of a neighbor suing me for his disturbed sleep over my boisterous laughter, so I turned off the telly and pulled my blanket. And so it was, a day in life that sometimes could be so full of amusing things, and I chuckled wholeheartedly.
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