It's the Thought That Counts

On the Upper East Side of Manhattan, I constantly find things that people have "lost" on the sidewalk such as baby pacifiers, water bottles and single gloves. Usually, these items are left on nearby ledges or  mailboxes in the hopes (too high) that the people who lost them will remember when and where they did so and be looking for them the next time they walk down the same street. The likelihood of these things being reunited with their owners? Zero to nil.

But what happens if the lost item is more valuable such as a cell phone or wallet? These are often brought to the nearest police station where it is trusted they will be kept secure until the owner is contacted and retrieves them. And what is to be done with a set of keys, perhaps with nothing on them to identify the owner? Are they too important to leave on a ledge? Well, a considerate person in my neighborhood recently thought so and took the time to bring the keys to a nearby locksmith's shop and then post a laminated sign on the lamp post where the keys were (presumably) found. The likelihood of them getting back to their owner? Zero to nil, but it's the thought that counts!

There Ought to be a Law!

Remember “quality of life”? Remember consideration and kindness? Remember what it means to “walk in someone else’s shoes? I do and I have come up with ten things “there ought to be a law against” (TOTBALA) in NYC starting in the new decade in order to make all our lives kinder and gentler.

TOTBALA:

~ laying wet umbrellas on subway and bus seats

~ coming to a complete stop on subway steps in order to take and/or complete a cell phone call

~ pre-theater cell phone announcements that try to be funny, clever or are linked in some way to the production

~ misspelled words on shop awnings, windows and signs

~ baristas who ask you for your name

~ people who, while making purchases in supermarkets, do not move along the conveyor belt with their items preventing the person behind them from placing their things down

~ people who tie their dogs to parking meters when they go into stores

~ more than one nail salon (or day spa) per city block

~ people on the bus who check their watches when wheelchair passengers are getting on or off

~ and people who create acronyms like TOTBALA

Unleashed

I live in NYC. I've lived in NYC my whole life and I love it....the pace, the diversity, the creativity, the power and the people.  But I've been noticing lately that there are things, small things, that are beginning to bother me. Not seriously BOTHER me....but annoy me enough so that I keep thinking about them. I thought that if I found out these same things bother other people, they might begin to bother me less. Blogging as catharsis, so to speak. Here's hoping...

So, dog owners who leave their pets tied up to parking meters while they purchase a Starbuck's or even worse..have an entire meal....BOTHER me. Can't they plan an excursion with the dog that doesn't coincide with stopping in for purchases? Don't they notice how parking meters are very close to curbs? How tied up dogs with enough leash slack can actually walk out into the street? How other dogs, who may be very unfriendly, might walk by? How your dogs look at the door of the shop you've gone into for the entire time you are in it, waiting for it to be you coming out the door? Maybe these owners do it just because of the greeting they get from their animal when they re-unite!

Just wondering...