It
was a cold, crisp weekend in New York; lotsa
out-of-towners bringing business to the theatres, to the
stores. Rockefeller Center and the tree bringing out the
crowds at night.
Friday night Casey Ribicoff invited me to dine
at Le Cirque with former Ambassador (to Canada) Ed Ney and
his wife Judy. The place was packed. Claudia
Cohen and Andy Stein were at the next
table. Next to them were Cartier exec Ralph Destino.
At the big round table behind us Nan and Gay Talese were
hosting their daughters and sons-in-law, and over by the entrance
to the room Audrey and Martin Gruss were entertaining
friends.
Mrs. Ribicoff who is nothing if not chic gave each of her guests
a Luma – “a new breed of flashlight,” wafer-thin,
and perfect for a glance at the printed word in the dark of the
theatre or the car, or bedside, or even in the light for an extra
look for the billions of us who use glasses. The Ribicoff Lumas
which were purchased from Charlotte Ford, Diana Feldman and Clay
Barr’s OmniPresents has a faux leopardskin cover.
They last two years or about 45 to 60 minutes running time. You
can carry them around in your vest pocket (or bag) or jacket. This
is not a commercial but it sure sounds like one because the unobtrusive
flashlight is something everyone could use and should carry.
Saturday was a beautiful, dry and sunny first day of winter. I
went down to the East Sixties and then over to 67th and Madison
to go across town for my Zabar’s hit. Waiting for the bus,
a small grey BMW sedan stopped suddenly about thirty feet from
me. A woman in her 30s looking very angry got out of the front
passenger seat, tried to the open the back door, made some sort
of angry gesture to the man at the wheel who then evidently unlocked
the door. On the opening of the door I could hear a kid wailing.
Mother was angry.
She dragged the little boy – probably three or four – red-faced,
wailing from the backseat; and then closing the back door, placed
him on the curbside and got back into the front seat. I wondered
for a moment if she were going to leave him there. I really did.
The little boy must have wondered the same thing for his wailing
grew louder and fearful.
Then
standing up and leaning over, she went head to head with him with
a forcefulness that reminded me of mother-o-mine when she was really
mad and felt she had to go to war with this kid.
She scolded the child with a lecture and then sat back on the front
seat, pausing. He was suddenly silent. His little head bowed dejectly.
Shame. That’s the word. I recognized it. You could recognize
it. And humiliation; yes that too. How I wondered, could so small
a child be shameful, deserve humiliation?
The lecture went on for a few minutes, the little boy stood there
stooped shouldered, head down, remorseful. And helpless, in the
cold air without a jacket.
And then she stopped. She got out of the car and he threw his arms
around her waist, (he was half her height) trying to cling. But
she pushed him away, turned him around, and put him back into the
back seat. Still angry, she was, so forget the rest. Doors closed,
the car sped away. Fear of abandonment relieved. For now.
I have my own issues with these matters. Seeing, Experiencing,
violent anger be it verbal and/or physical, from authority or a
man with dog outrages me. Everything is worse for it and we are
all fools.
Thinking about that child on the sidewalk, I tried to reason with
my conclusions. I see a lot of wailing children in my neighborhood
because I live in a neighborhood with lots of young families. And
children will wail. And I am often exasperated by what seems like
an alarming paucity of parental control over the child’s
behavior. To put it diplomatically. Many parents I observe tend
to offer their little ones choices that they have not been prepared
to make sensibly or realistically. From that tyranny (on the child’s
part) materializes, rather than the presumed decision. Once that
genie is out of that bottle, god knows how it will turn out for
the child. And the rest of us.
However, this incident on Saturday afternoon on Madison and 67th
caught my eye because of the angry adult, and the remarkably sudden
silence, of the dejected little boy listening. I was relating obviously,
and distressed about his future (according to my relating). And
ours.
On Saturday night DRUDGE carried the
news of the new audiotape from Al Quaida on Al-Jazeera, the
Middle East television network. Warning us. On
Sunday the nation got the message from Homeland
Security with their Orange Alert.
Many New Yorkers have been on Red Alert everyday since 9/11/01.
Many have not been mollified in any way by any kind of official
activity. Many believe we are living in a new world, that there
are those who want to destroy that which they call America, (as
well as more than a few other places). This is the reality of our
times. I’m right and you’re wrong. The need to be right.
Right is might; might is right. Right right right. My god your
god his god her god. The little boy on the curb sure wasn’t
right. He was wrong. And very possibly wronged. He lives on Red
Alert too.
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