Dancing

Today I had one of those days where it seemed like every other face I passed was familiar. My friend David likes to say “There are 100 people in New York and you’ll see them everywhere.”

On my way to work, I sat on the train across from a man who I’ve seen shopping, walking, dining, drinking in the neighborhood for the last four years. His hair has gone grey. I noticed just a few when I first recognized him. Now it's become an appealing silver, solid grey collecting above the ears.

During my lunch break, I passed a girl who was a fixture in the fraternity circuit in college. I think I often saw pictures of her with her tongue out, or grabbing her own boob. She was a friend-of-a-friend and I smiled but I don’t think she remembered me.

After work I trotted back to the subway, passing the barber who smokes outside the Style and Smile salon atleast 10 blocks from his shop. And when hiking up the 8th avenue subway steps back in Park Slope, I noticed the woman who I stood dangerously close to last week on a crowded F, while she updated her friend on her business school interviews and wedding plans. She’s getting married in Vermont, they haven’t found a decent indoor-outdoor option yet.

Sometimes I like to picture the city full of couples and singles, dancing in big and small circles, around and through and around each other, and maybe there’s a big chandelier hanging above.