happy day

everyone was smiling just like this today.

Today has been happy.

I don't mean that I'm particularly overjoyed about anything, or that I've been blissed out on life these past 24 hours. It's simply that everyone, everywhere, seems grateful. Peaceful. Pleased to be alive.

Instead of a seething mass of angry New Yorkers, Manhattan is, for the time being at least, a cheerful place. People are strolling along the sidewalks with smiles on their faces and laughs in their throats; bums aren't viciously shaking their change cups at passers-by. (They seem more cheerful than anyone, content with standing around looking stoned and amused with the world.)

Even those witchy, bitchy Upper East Side grannies are nicer than usual. Earlier this afternoon hell froze over when one of them moved her (highly over sized) bag off the bench seat next to her so that I could sit down. Who knew one of those escargot fed would ever deem me, a member of the dirty masses, as being worthier than a $1500 purse?

Equally shocking was the moment a Duane Reade employee spent about five minutes exchanging pleasantries with me over toilet paper. Seriously. I asked the man (a very nice, dread locked guy from Jamaica) if they stocked any, and suddenly I found myself in the midst of the friendliest conversation I've had with a stranger since I've lived in New York.

Granted, I did catch him checking me after we had ended our conversation, so that might have had something to do with it, but I like to think otherwise. Oh, and for the record -- yes, Duane Reade stocks toilet paper. (And shitloads of nail polish -- I spent about 20 minutes there trying to decide if/what color to buy.)

Not only is New York a happy place today, it's also a frisky one. While I was walking to one of my usual subway stops a Mexican man poked his head out of a building window and tried to chat me up en espanol. Too bad I don't speak any and can't keep a straight face when things like that happen.

So, all in all, it is nice to be in a place where people are simply happy. I even got to visit with my father and brother today -- a fairly rare occurrence. We had lunch at a nice vegetarian place on 6th Avenue -- not too expensive, yummy, and home to good bubble tea.

I'm back off to Manhattan again tonight for a music lesson, which would normally suck (commuting), but should be decent with all this happiness floating around.