Hither n' Yon

After a week on Tom Fitzmorris’ Eat Club Cruise from New York to Nova Scotia, we settled down last weekend for two days in Manhattan. And we were extremely impressed by the people in the big city.

Way back when this writer went there for the first time, the local folks wouldn’t pass the time of day with you. They were too busy or important to do that. They felt you were intruding on their territory if you even smiled at them.

Nowadays, they are very friendly and ready to help you get through the horrific traffic on the sidewalks and roadways there. If you smile, they smile back. They’re among the happiest population we have ever met.

Saturday and Sunday, they dressed leisurely as they strolled through Central Park and up and down Fifth Avenue. But on Monday morning, it was business as usual in pin stripe suits and trim skirts. And their movements were quicker and aimed in definite directions as though there was work to do.

New York is a wonderful town. There is much to enjoy there.

The restaurants are outstanding with food of every ethnic variety. We saw “Mama Mia” which has been on Broadway for five years and is still sold out. It’s all about a girl who wanted her father to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day but she didn’t know which one of her mother’s lovers he was. So she invited all three to the wedding and, after they arrived, she tried to figure it out. We won’t spoil it by revealing the ending.

If that plot doesn’t entice you, there are many more musicals and other stage productions in the city that never sleeps. Live theatre is the heartbeat of Manhattan.

The prime ministers of Israel and Pakistan were in town to have a conference at the United Nations which caused a few demonstrations here and there. And when those crowds gathered, there were police all over the place. Security in the city is very extensive. President George W. was also scheduled to arrive in town Monday for a UN meeting prior to the opening of the UN general session which also brought out a few demos. But it all seemed to be peaceful.

One form of transportation we had not seen there before were buggies pulled by boys on bicycles. They competed with the millions of Yellow Cabs that seemed to account for half of the motorized vehicles on the streets.

But we walked and walked as we always did in America’s second most interesting city. We gazed through hundreds of shop windows from Tiffany’s to Saks that reflected the skyscrapers dominating the city.

New York is well worth a visit. In fact it could make for an annual affair to keep up to date with the entertainment and business scenes of America.

Kidnapped baby draws attention

Strange that the number one news story last week in the national media was the kidnapping of a one-week old baby who was recovered in healthy condition Tuesday. It was described as a heinous crime. Had the baby been eight days younger, he could have been killed in the mother’s womb without any attention.

It would not have been news. After all, millions of such babies have been killed in abortions even here in America where human life is respected so much.

What a difference a week makes.