PaperWork: Every visit to ‘Big Apple’ provides a real slice of life

“598! Medium fries!”

The shout was easy to hear from the McDonald’s stand. We were nearby, waiting to board our flight to New York from O’Hare.

“715! Seven-one-five!” The young man’s voice filled the area again. It remained a constant interruption. I could hear him well, but struggled to understand our boarding instructions through the PA system.

Noise. Hustle and bustle. A fitting start for our visit to the big city, where I watched a sax player employ the acoustics under a tunnel to compete with nearby angry, honking auto horns. We were visiting one of our sons who lives in Brooklyn.

That McDonald’s stand got me started, jotting down notes. A trip to New York always provides stories to tell. Or, for starters, a series of observations. Let me share more of my notes.

“Happy birthday,” my wife said to the young lady across from us, who would be on our plane. She had just stood up to put on a huge white sash that read, “It’s my birthday.” I got the feeling this plane trip was the start of a great adventure for her.

Airports are all about people-watching, but it’s a fast-moving slideshow. If I were doing a documentary on that amazing invention we call the wheel, I would make sure to get lots of footage at an airport. Everyone had a destination and was rushing to get there. Guess that defines an airport.

In New York, we walked the High Line. It’s a slice of nature carved into the city over an old rail line. It’s a beautiful hiking area where natural flowers are in bloom and greenery is preserved for city dwellers to enjoy. A small section had been converted to what I will call a flat waterfall next to the path we walked. Water came from one side and flowed a few feet to the drains on the other side. Like a hose running water over a sidewalk, but it produced the sound of a flowing stream. A gentle reminder that we need nature to muffle the chaos.

A young lady walked toward us with her head bent over her phone. Not uncommon, I know. She was not there to enjoy nature. Perhaps it was a shortcut to anywhere for her. I made a mental joke, “Hey, maybe she’s watching a video of the High Line.”

Peering over the side of the elevated High Line to the street below, I saw two dirty yellow construction machines working in tandem. One was breaking a concrete pad into large chunks, and the other had a claw to remove them. I wondered what stood there before that needed that concrete slab and why it had to be removed, probably for another slab. We build, then we destroy so we can build again. I think we call that “progress,” but it seemed sad.

Further down our little hike, I peered over the edge again, drawn by a man shouting – no, yelling – at everyone nearby. His small dog waited patiently. He stood in front of a Wells Fargo, where he chose to speak his piece, saying, “You’re the problem! You never take you seriously!” I stopped listening and moved on. Much like everyone walking by him.

They never stop making space for more people in the Big Apple. I could see construction cranes on top of tall buildings. There is only one way to expand. That’s up. Then up again. I wondered if there is a limit, or if there will always be an engineer who says, “We can go higher if you want.” And someone will always want.

While waiting for a Lyft driver, I saw a young man on a scooter. Scooters were everywhere in the city, with riders of all ages. This guy zoomed by us – fast – and shot straight through a stop sign without hesitation. This would be another scene in my documentary, “The Wheel and How It Turns Us.” I’d add some commentary about how the rules of the road don’t matter if you have only two wheels.

There’s more, of course, including the half-naked lady bathing herself near Times Square while a man was filming and shouting, “This is New York! This is New York!” But my time and space have ended.

But yeah … New York always provides great stories.

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail the NewsTribune, 426 Second St., La Salle IL 61301.