Thanksgiving Day

Got up reasonably early to go and view the Macy’s parade. As for putting their name before the American public, Macy’s has outdone Bloomingdales and any other NYC retailer. It rolls off everyones tongue as they jockey for position along the curb and the street for a view. It is 9:06 a.m. and by now I’ve lost count of the number of times I have heard a big person saying to a smaller one, ‘stop whining!’ as they wait for something or someone to show up on the street. We are all at Times Square which feels to me like being inside a giant television set. The adverts on and around Times Square have the importance of a major campaign. I had no idea; here is a huge captive audience. Most of those waiting to see the parade will never see what actually passes at eye level, so the neons, digitals, movies and exclaims above their heads, up to the skyline will be a large part of what they remember about the parade. Many of the ads are Asian: Samsung, Huaxi, Xinhua, Hyundai, LG, or other foreign companies: Barclays, Swatch, Swarovski. Add in movie trailers, theatre titles, and drink: Coke, Pepsi, coffee, beer. Funnily enough there is little food, and all of it is at eye level, but with such a crowd eye level is distorted. Around me I hear Turkish, Russian, Spanish, French, Southern, Mid-Western, Japanese to name but a few. There is of course, a huge TV screen on the East side of Times Square [perhaps there is one on the West side, but it would be somewhere North and behind me] and it shows the parade approaching. It is 9:32. I realize how important the gigantic balloons are, for that is the only part of the actual parade most folks and children will see. The crowd from the curb is too thick to see what passes by at eye level. What surprises me most is that the balloons are not Empire State Building high as I always thought from watching television, but are just over the tops of the heads. They are far closer to the ground than I ever imagined. Since anyone beyond row three cannot see the bands or the actual floats, hands held high with cameras are everywhere. Something that was unknown but a few years ago. The fathers that hoist, hold-in-place, support their small children in lofty places so they can see better are many; wondrous to behold. Beside me, a couple from the deep South whose son is in a marching band. They have come to the City to ‘see’ him, although from their vantage point there is no hope of actually watching him pass. Again, the divide between some and others. If you have $895 a night you can have a hotel room with a view of the parade, just above our heads. Less than that? Don warm leggings, gloves, coat, hat, scarf and brave it. The parade begins on Central Park West [CPW] which means it runs down the west side of Central Park to a roundabout known as Columbus Circle. It then turns and runs along the South side of the Park and takes a right on 7th Avenue. It follows 7th Avenue to Times Square which means it picks up a bit of Broadway and then turns left at 42nd Street to continue to 6th Avenue. After a few block on 6th Avenue it ends at the Macy’s store on 34th. I find 6th Avenue iconic. I love to stand in the middle of 6th Avenue, either when crossing the street on a walk signal, or on a Sunday when it is blocked off for a street fair, and look north and south. It is as if one is standing in the heart of Manhattan; the way the buildings are situated and the perspective that arises from the width of the street and the height of the buildings. So I can imagine if I am a band member from a school or town other than New York City, and the streets are blocked off so that I and my bandmates may parade down the heart of the city…. what a thrill!! Cold? What cold? I get it, the chance of a lifetime.
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It’s early evening, still Thanksgiving Day and the subway station is quiet, a sort of whispered quiet. He is wearing a cowboy hat, vest, plaid shirt, jeans and black buckled boots, sitting at his keyboard. No cup or money receptacle in sight and he is  playing Tchaikovsky, only interrupted by the roar of the arriving train. This in contrast to the adult male sleeping on the tile floor by the street entrance gate. Was he lulled by the music?
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Individuals getting on and off the subway with plastic-wrapped plates or foil-covered containers. Clearly send-homes from a Thanksgiving dinner.
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And then there are the two plates left separately on two exit stairs, neatly wrapped. Gave me a sense, not of abandonment but rather purposely left for someone who will definitely pass by and didn’t have family, friends and a sit-down dinner. Folks care.