Nina In New York: The Opposite Of The Boot Cop
A lighthearted look at news, events, culture and everyday life in New York. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer.
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By Nina Pajak
So, perhaps it's the hormones surging through my body thanks to my current condition, but I've been feeling downright...cheerful.
Oh, sure, the tourists drive me to distraction, and I've thrown my fair share of elbows. But it's just in the name of self-preservation. And once I've made it through the unwieldy throngs, I do not retain my rage and frustration and let it boil over and ruin the next several hours, as I've done in previous years. Rather, I find it dissipates along with the crowd. Weird, huh?
So it was yesterday morning that I was exiting the subway, imbued with my new-found implacable holiday spirit, when I came across a scene that just made it all come crashing down. It was in the vestibule by one of the staircases. A cop was standing over a homeless man, who was slowly rising from his cardboard sheet and collecting his things. Here's how the conversation went:
Homeless guy: Okay, I'm leaving.
Cop: Get out of here!
Homeless guy (calmly): Why did you kick me, though?
Cop: You're in the way! Nobody wants to walk past you here.
Homeless guy (calmly): I'm leaving, I always leave when you tell me to. But that was just unnecessary.