Franklinsanity

8:18 pm, New Britain, CT:  quite a day.  4 subway rides (all on the 6 line).  1 pedicab ride.  40-plus blocks walked.  2 No Parking signs climbed. 1 Alice-in-Wonderland statue climbed.  Many scaffoldings swung on.  2 commuter trains.  And 30-minute car rides on either end.  A good NYC day.

The kids couldn’t, after the 3rd subway ride, understand why we didn’t just jump in a car.  Leaving aside the car-seat issue, I explained that’s not what you do in Manhattan and that the subway was just faster.

Ironically, now that the damn thing remains air conditioned, basically clean, and functional, they didn’t argue.  De Blasio is falling down on the job, if his job is to undermine infrastructure integrity and introduce chaos.

It took Ted until 3 pm to even notice a homeless guy.

Heck, we even used the men’s room on the lower level of Grand Central without incident.  The bathroom attendent/janitor – uniformed, friendly, and REALLY on the job (to the point of banging on stalls and rousting randos) – also apparently has kids ages 5 and 7 and was only too happy to help us use the facilities.  I mean, that’s classic NYC in that the city only seems aggressive and unfriendly, when it isn’t at all.  But what’s NOT classic NYC is a frickin’ uniformed bathroom attendant, in evidence, and on DUTY in Grand Central.  That’s gotta be a Bloomberg holdover.

(Safe harbor language:  the aforementioned paragraph expresses views in full ignorance of any long-functioning and hard-serving janitorial staff at GCS; no offense is meant, quite the opposite.)

My point, I guess, is that it was a gorgeous day to wander around NYC for 6 hours.  Also to see Eccentric Possibly Crazy Mom – who met her grandchildren for – in Quinn’s case – the first time; and in Teddy’s case, the first time in 5 years.

In her building lobby.

Yeah, GrandMargo doesn’t do apartment visits with the grand-kids.  It’s gifts and weird stories sitting in imitation Eames chairs in a marble lobby, while the doorman talks on the phone.

Kids took it in stride.  I called it a day when Quinn had to pee and she refused to let her use the bathroom in her apartment.

Probably the W’s bathroom has cooler stalls, anyhow.

We all made it around and back in one piece.  Great day.  And – who knew – some of the Metro North Trains actually have outlets.  Charged my phone right up, while Quinn slept.