When I worked on Wall Street I got up at 5 am, showered, brushed my teeth, got on the 2 or 3 train, got off at Wall Street, stood in line for a cup of coffee and a buttered sesame bagel at the cart in front of what was Citibank when I first started working down there in the late 1970s but later became a hotel, never changing my order because the man who stood in his little food cart every morning knew the order of every person in line, at least if they were regulars as I was, and I didn’t want to throw off his wonderful, fast rhythm, his Good Morning! Light no sugar sesame with butter, right? I would smile and say yes and take my bag, the coffee already seeping through, walk down Wall Street to Water Street, over to Maiden Lane, to my green glass 53-story building where I had a private office with a million dollar view of Manhattan, from river to river, to the north, up beyond Central Park, a view I never tired of.
After 25 years on Wall Street I became a public school teacher in Brooklyn and now I got up at 5 am, showered, brushed my teeth, got on the A train, got off at Jay Street, bought my coffee and bagel at a food cart on the edge of MetroTech (the young woman there didn’t bother to memorize our orders), transferred to the B54 bus, got off at St. Edwards Street, walked to the old, five-story, no elevator school building in the Walt Whitman projects, trudged up the stairs to the fourth floor, to the special ed school that shared the building with a neighborhood school and with a charter school, walked into my bright, full of color classroom where my six little children with autism would join me an hour later, where they will put away their backpacks, and sit in a circle in their little chairs, looking at me, looking out the window, fidgeting, waiting for Ms. Franke to put on the morning music, maybe Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” or Santana’s “Samba Pa Ti,” music I would play for them day after day, music they loved, their little bodies wiggling with excitement as the music soared upward.
This piece soars to a crescendo just like the music in Scene Two. Joyous!
ReplyDeleteI really love the contrast between the first job and then the second job. The first job very impersonal very business-oriented but with a great view. And then the second job with the class full of children
ReplyDeleteThe mighty bagel! Buttered sesame! I love that you framed both work experiences with the bagel and the morning routine. The view, the music, the children's bodies wiggling. Beautiful way to show that we are not defined by the job!
ReplyDeleteYes, the two scenes so clear, so different, so connected by the morning routine. A very creative approach. I like the long sentence style with rhythm.
ReplyDeleteSome things don't change and some things do. As long as there's a coffee and a buttered bagel waiting for you after you step off the train, whatever else happens after that can't be too bad.
ReplyDeleteSuch a clear painting for us of the two scenes....the beautiful view outside so very much enjoyed,,, and the children so beautiful in their own way and exuding their own kind of joy. Beautifully written!
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