I was given the task of running some errands for Hudson today. I was supposed to pick up some samples on the Upper East Side. It was described as “too far to walk” by the three women I’m working with. They didn’t want me to have to take the subway since I’m not familiar with all the differing routes. Different stations cater to specific areas of town, not a one for all sort of deal. Instead of trying to meander my way around the city while underground, I was given a “reimbursed” $20 bill in order to take a taxi. Off I went with a crisp twenty in my pocket.
Around 3:15, I reached Fifth Avenue. Traffic travels up and down Manhattan Island on this street. I needed to get to the “upper” side of Manhattan, so I crossed the street and tried to hail an orange taxicab. I thought waving down a cab would be as simple as it looks in every single movie that’s shot in a big city. No one was stopping for me, so I started walking in the general direction that I needed to go in. Every few minutes, I’d stop walking and start waving at taxi drivers again. I stood about three feet out on the street like I witnessed everyone else doing. Several cabs were going in my direction, but the drivers would motion NO by shaking their head.
It was so strange, I couldn’t figure out why no one would stop. What’s so w-r-o-n-g with me that a NYC cabby won’t stop? I ended up walking over 30 blocks to pick up the samples. Luckily, my pink snakeskin pizza-toed flats are just as comfortable as they are cute. Once to the building, the security team wouldn’t let me in because I didn’t specifically have an appointment in the building. They sent me around the side of the building to their “pick-up” area. In this section, there was a long hallway and a small service window. I waited in a line in the hall for around 45 minutes until I got to the window. There were 5 people in the pick-up room, but the only one working was the woman at the window.
At first, the woman told me that the package had already been picked up. NO, actually that was impossible because I was the only person that Hudson sent. At last, the dysfunctional office got it together and found my package. It was time to head back to Hudson and get these samples to the designers. In order to make it back before 5:00pm, I HAD to take a cab. Again, I tried and tried to hail a cab and not a single one would stop for me. I started walking back when I came upon a police officer standing by himself, next to a church, outside his vehicle. I asked him, “Is there a specific way to get a taxi? I can’t get one to save my life!”
The police officer was very friendly, thank Goodness I found him! He took the reigns and stood in the street with me waving at the rushing cabbies. It was kind of a funny situation, because technically, obstructing traffic to pick people up is prohibited. One driver looked very perplexed, and shrugged at the sergeant because he was in the far left lane. He would have to cross two lanes of traffic to get to me (illegal). The officer motioned and yelled to him that it was all right to change lanes. So, FINALLY, I got a ride. The driver was extremely rattled, as he expressed “I no like that guy. He weird.” Apparently, the same cop had written him a ticket for pulling the same lane-switch-move just two days before.
We were throwing a little birthday party at Hudson, which I was missing while running around the city attempting to get those prototypes. The birthday was for a woman whose birthdate is on June 1st—the same as mine! I showed up late to the bash because of the whole cab-ride-from-hell situation and walked in to a room full of people I didn’t know. I looked around nervously and finally found the friendly eyes of Melissa, my boss, and knew that I was in the right place. After introducing myself, a woman asked if I wanted some wine. All the designers were sitting around sipping sweet vino. I said, “I actually don’t turn 21 until this Saturday!” They all laughed really hard at my response. Then the other birthday girl said, “If we’re celebrating MY birthday two days early… it’s your birthday too, which makes you 21 right now sista!” Needless to say, it was a very needed drink after today’s dilemmas.
Always,
Alena Horowitz
