after church this morning, greg and i drove to ikea to look at sofas for the house . .
we would like to get a sleeper sofa. this one was interesting, but i think we'll go with something more traditional.
this one folds down like a futon. it's too bad the store had it on a platform so we couldn't sit on it . . it also looks quite worn i think!
the ikea store was rather busy and filled with too many people, so we didn't wander around like we usually do (which is a good thing - there are too many tempting items to buy). since we were in brooklyn, in red hook, i suggested we visit mr. wonton in park slope and get chinese food to take home for dinner. we took the route past mazzola's bakery and i hopped out to get cannoli
my favorite cannoli . . their filling isn't too sweet and is very creamy.
mazzola's is located on union street and to get to mr. wonton we just continued east towards park slope. after crossing the canal, i wistfully began picking out the familiar shops that we used to pass when we lived in the neighborhood: the casket company (i've always been amused at this), the djembe store and our old auto repair shop (which has since moved). coming up to the intersection of fourth avenue with union, we noticed one particular person who wasn't busily walking across with everyone else. he stood in the center, directly in front of our car. though the light was green, we had to stop. i noticed he held a heavy looking stick in his left hand and i glanced in the side view mirror to see how many cars were behind us, wondering if they would beep which might help get this person to move, but he just leaned into the hood of the car, staring at greg (who was driving) and yelling "why'd you do it" or something like that. it was now that i realized that the stick was a metal pipe and i could feel myself flipping into fight or flight mode . . which i guess was all fight as i didn't move, but simply tensed up . . i remember feeling my brain whirring busily, trying to figure out this situation. meanwhile, greg moved the car into park and the light turned red. the guy moved around to greg's door and . . opened it! yelling the whole time. greg made a motion to pull it shut again, but i think it just swung wider. someone on the sidewalk shouted, "get away from that car," and suddenly there were two cops with guns drawn - except they weren't guns, they were black and yellow tasers. the guy had turned around at the shout and now began walking toward the officers - still yelling. there was a flash and he was down on the ground with the officers astride him, handcuffing him. greg closed his door, moved the car into drive, the light turned green . . and we drove away.
greg calls this adventure our one guy traffic delay. all i could say to him as we crossed fourth avenue and drove up union street, was . . well, you handled that well. it was all we talked about for the next few hours as we looked for a parking spot around the corner from mr. wonton and went in to order our food. oh! and as we drove up union street, two police cars flew by us with their lights flashing and their sirens going . . on their way to back up the officers we had just left. the guy must have threatened others before we even arrived on the scene and someone must have called 911. i guess. i'll be forever grateful to the person who shouted "get away from that car." it reminds me of the time i was walking along an extremely crowded fifth avenue sidewalk in the 1980's and almost stepped off the curb at 59th street into oncoming traffic. someone reached out their arm and stopped me. sometimes a guardian angel is only a whisper away.
just another day in new york city.
