I woke up at 4 am last Thursday to catch my flight that was leaving at 7:15. I needed time to get gas, get to the airport to park my car, get shuttled over to the proper terminal, and then get frisked by bored airport security agents. It can take about 45 minutes to get the airport and I've had many instances where the shuttle to the airport took quite a long time. I figured the invasion-of-personal-space portion would be pretty smooth sailing that early in the morning. Luckily, things went for smoothly for me that morning. I had enough time to eat some weird breakfast sandwich and grab some over-priced drinks before boarding even started.
The flight was uneventful and since I ate breakfast in the terminal, I was able to stow my corn flakes and banana in my bag for later consumption. Being that this trip was only a one-niter, I was able to pack extremely light and had plenty of room for any extras I picked up along the way. I was able to get some reading done and jot a few thoughts and ideas down in a little notebook I brought with me. Here's one of the entries:
"I saw a woman standing in the airport who was so thin that I wanted to throw one of my tater-tots at her to see if her body would absorb it on impact. Her clothes Looked like they had been sucked close to her body, as if her body was trying to find sustenance from any source, even denim."
There are a few others, but all of them are quite a bit longer. I thought they might come in handy if I decided to flesh them out into full-blown posts on here.
Upon landing at JFK Airport I was able to head straight for the doors since I packed conservatively for this adventure. I have to admit something here for the sake of this narrative; I've never hailed a taxi before and was unsure if it was as easy as it looked on TV/movies. Due to this, I went up to an official looking guy with a tie and hat and asked him how I could get to Midtown. He immediately told me, "$15. The bus." I paused for a second, just minutes off the plane and I was getting scammed already? I was ready to drop $50 on a cab and $15 was a steal comparatively. Could I really save that much? Then he whipped out this ticket printing device and motioned over to the bus parked just a few yards away. I handed him the $15, took my ticket, and grabbed a seat. Then the bus pulled away, with me as its only passenger. The scammed thoughts began rising in me again. As the bus made its way around I kept seeing signs for the airport exit, and we kept turning in the opposite direction. I hadn't realized that he had to get around to the other seven terminals for other fares. I am such a tourist.
After making the rounds we finally began our way into the heart of Manhattan. Our destination, Grand Central Station. I had no idea where that was. I knew where I needed to be, and I had studied a map of Manhattan pretty thoroughly before leaving to get an idea of how to get around. As long as Grand Central was near something I could recognize, I'd be fine. Thankfully the moment we exited the Queens Midtown Tunnel there was a sign indicating where the different routes would take you, and I recognized the numbered streets. My only hope was that we didn't go too far down the numerical list, because my hotel was on 57th. I didn't know where I was until descending from the bus onto the street. It was 42nd and Park Ave. I might be a tourist, but a damn lucky one.
I began heading north and I instantly felt the pulse of the city around me. There's a reason this depot is named Grand Central, because I felt like I was right in the heart of Manhattan Island. The streets branching from this point were the veins and the thousands of pedestrians and cars were the blood. I felt invigorated and not at all daunted by the walk to the hotel that was ahead of me. Seeing all of these people moving along at their own beat, but at the same time the same rhythm. It was something I'd never felt before. There were a few salmon trying to swim upstream that I encountered, sometimes I took on that roll myself, but I never felt overwhelmed like I had imagined this walk would. Along this walk I tried to take in as many of the sights that I could, but I knew that I'd have another chance later on after the audition. I didn't stray too far from the path I'd set for myself from Grand Central to the hotel and I only stopped once because it began to rain and I decided to stop for a drink. After that, I arrived at the hotel and only had to wait ten or fifteen minutes for my friend, who was also auditioning for the same show in just a few hours.
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