I can't sleep…
“It isn’t about peace, a quiet life, not feeling things, not experiencing things. It’s about the shit hitting the fan, and having the courage to sit with yourself, not hide, not deny–to observe the tumult from the end of the snake’s tongue.”
— Samantha Harvey, The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping (Grove Press; May 12, 2020)
Note: Photo by NB Hunter
That night on the show, there’s an expert giving advice about how to survive disasters, natural and man-made. He says it’s a myth that people panic in emergencies. Eighty percent just freeze. The brain refuses to take in what is happening. This is called the incredulity response. “Those who live move,” he says.
~ Jenny Offill, Weather: A Novel (Knopf, February 11, 2020)
Notes: Photo: Nirav Patel. Related Posts: It’s been a long day
Notes:
There is a lot more going on in our lives than we either know or care to know. Who can say what it is that’s going on? But I suspect that part of it, anyway, is that every once and so often we hear a whisper from the wings that goes something like this: “You’ve turned up in the right place at the right time. You’re doing fine. Don’t ever think that you’ve been forgotten.”
– Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC
Notes:
“How long to Grand Central?”
“20 minutes, maybe 30, it’s Rush Hour.”
Uber driver. Black Toyota Camry. Leather seats worn. Dashboard tanned with thousands of hours of direct sunlight.
“Your English is good. Where are you from?”
He glances at me in the rear view mirror. Reticent.
“Ethiopia, Sir.”
“How long have you been here?”
“9 years.”
“And your family? Are they here or back in Ethiopia?”
“Oh, they’re all back in Ethiopia. I’m here with my wife.”
“Do you miss home?”
Long pause.
“People think it’s easy. Here in America.” He pulls up. Polite, respectful.
I shift the conversation. We’re a few minutes out.
“You have a 4.94 (out of 5) driver rating. Wow. That’s something. How do you do it?”
“I don’t know Sir.” He smiles.
“I’m curious. Out of 10 rides, how many riders tip?” Continue reading “Riding Uptown. Man on Venus. Man on Mars.”