only in new york

on tuesday night, i stayed in the city after work to meet friends for dinner and then stay the night with them. we didn’t have reservations until 8, so i stayed at my office for a while playing around online and redoing my makeup. i left my office in midtown west and began leisurely walking downtown to inoteca liquori, which is a phenom restaurant by the way.

after a few blocks, i saw a taxi absolutely S L A M into a messenger (aka man delivering things on bike, for all you non-new yorkers). the guy was struck incredibly hard, flewwww in the air, and slammed into a massively large and heavy flowerpot. he lay crumpled on the ground, curled in pain, moaning very softly. i actually thought he was dead at first.

i was pretty much the first person on the scene, so i ran up to him and gently shook him on the shoulder. he wasn’t responding, and i figured it was just because he was in shock. turns out he actually couldn’t speak english, because he’s just a 17 year old mexican immigrant. no problemo- guess who speaks spanish?!

i called an ambulance and the police and then waited for them to come, which took an incredible like thirty minutes. hellooooo police?! this is an EMERGENCY! the parademics think he broke his shoulder, collarbone, arm, and at least one leg. this makes me so sad, because he won’t be able to work. therefore, he won’t make any money. plus, i’m sure he has no health insurance. also, he told me he had no one to call to meet him at the hospital. he just had a crumpled piece of paper in his pocket with his employer’s number. he’s all alone and horribly injured! plus, the cab driver was screaming bloody murder at him and trying to make it seem like it was the messenger’s fault. all he did was complain about how his cab would be out of commission for 2 weeks because of the damage. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU, CABBIE!

the police, paramedics, and cabbie made it seem like the accident was no big deal. one of thirty (or whatever) that occur everyday. this ain’t no little thing though- this boy is alone and hurt! made me so sad. such a big deal, handled in such a new york way.

xo charlotte