Human Decency

When someone sneezes, the response is“Bless you”. It’s almost automatic but even if you barely know the person, it slips out. When someone hurts himself or herself, the proper reaction should be “Are you okay?” It’s not really that hard of a concept, especially if something happens in an office to a co-worker. It’s common decency or so I thought until this morning.

I dress up for work every so often (most days you can find me in jeans and a sweater). I own a great collection of high heels thanks to a fabulous friend who works in the shoe world. Today I chose to wear a 3-inch pair of red heels that are not too uncomfortable (high heels are never comfortable, never believe anyone who tells you that). I got to work and walked on our leopard-carpeted floor toward the kitchen. Why yes, isn’t every office carpeted in leopard? Anyway, I was holding my Tupperware filled with my lunch in my hand ready to place it in the fridge. I stepped onto the tile and felt myself slip. I tried to catch myself with the counter but forgot my food container was in my hand and slipped again and very ungracefully crashed down onto the floor. Once I was on my, now tingling, tush, I looked up to see a coworker making her breakfast. She looked down at me and simply said, “Have a problem with your shoes?” She turned back to the toaster as I struggled to get up and inspect the damage. I mumbled something about my butt hurting and she asked, “Are those new shoes?” They weren’t but where was her concern for the fact that I had just landed on the floor. I didn’t expect her to lift me back up, all I had expected was a simple “are you ok?” but nope. Then she walked out of the kitchen and said, “Remember toe to heel!”

This coworker and I are not really friends but come on! I have been giving the back of her head daggers all day but I kind of wish I could revert back to kindergarten and push her down in the kitchen.

I am left with a rip in my tights, a bruised tush and a little taste of reality.

~Bean

It's been a long time

The bean in the city is back!

A slight recap on things I haven't blogged about since April…

The bean in the city took a trip to another city and visited San Francisco. I had a great time camping, meeting new friends, visiting with my cousin and exploring their city and vineyards. But don’t fret NYC; I have no plans to leave you for SF. Here’s a shot from Big Sur.

I started biking all over the place and in September I biked in the NYC Century bike tour and completed 90 miles in about 11 hours! It was exhilarating and a beautiful way to see all of Brooklyn and Queens. Here is a picture of my bike and me in Queens by the Throgs Neck Bridge.

I don’t know if I have shared my love with eating and taking photos of food I eat with my blog readers but as I attempt to keep writing regularly I think I will include details about meals I have enjoyed. These will include homemade creations and also restaurant delights. These are a few shots from my visit to Citi Field to see the Mets over the summer. We got a feast of food to celebrate my dad's birthday.

Lobster rolls YUM!

The first bite is the best!

Looking forward to getting back into blogging!

The missing gloves...

I am not only navigating the street of NYC by car but also by bike! That’s right I am braving the crazy NYC drivers while gliding around on a light blue bike with my purple helmet securely fastened on my head. If you thought my driving adventures were fun... you are sure to enjoy the tales of my two spinning wheels!

A few weeks ago it was getting warmer but it was still a bit chilly to be outside. I really wanted to ride my bike so I bundled up in three layers and put on gloves. I lent my riding buddy a pair of gloves too and off we went to navigate the streets and the park. We rode for a while and as it got warmer we removed layers. After riding in the park, we visited the bike store to try to find out why my bike was not working well. We refilled the tires with air and off we went! At that point, my riding buddy realized that he had lost both of the gloves I had lent him. We tried to retrace our route but then just ended up back in the park. I figured I would never see those gloves again and they were old so I wouldn’t miss them too much.

As I rode down the east side river park, with the traffic from the FDR whizzing by on my left and the river splashing against the city on my right, I was actually really happy and forgot about the missing gloves. I looked down and there was one of the gloves lying in the pathway! I excitedly picked it up and thought that if one had just been lying there the other could have fallen out a few steps away. So we continued the ride and a few spins of my tires later, I noticed a green object on a park bench! It was the other glove. What are the chances that an hour later in NYC I could find two lost gloves? Just another NYC story to smile (and blog) about!

Thanks taxi driver!

The other night I was heading down to the Penn Station area from my apartment and needed to get there fast. I was running late and my friends were upset that I wasn't at the bar yet. I hailed a cab and told the cabbie to get me there fast.

I turned off the annoying TV screen in the cab (ugh they make me feel carsick). Then I noticed that he had the radio on and it was playing just the song to get me in the mood for a night out, Beyonce's "Single Ladies". So I leaned onto the cab partition and asked if he could turn it up a little. He turned the volume way up and I swayed in my seat. After the song was over and we were still speeding down 5th Ave, the cabbie asked me what stations I liked to listen to. We went through a few different ones until we found another dance song. He was a fan of 103.5 while I like 95.5.

A few minutes later we arrived at the bar and it had only taken about 3 songs worth of time to get me to midtown!

I gave him a good tip and left the cab happier than when I had gotten in!