Benched #19: threads

Times Square got me thinking about threads.

It was warm and the tourists were crowded onto the bleachers that took in the famous view.  I found aspot to sit.  The streets around me were so filled with life they demanded a photo, but I knew whatever I took wouldn’t do it justice.  But that’s true of all of the cities I’ve been in – whether New York, London, Cairo, Beijing, or Delhi.  Hustle and bustle translate into photographic clutter.

There is, though, something unique about Times Square. Flowing all around me were languages I didn’t know – call the spot the Bleachers of Babel.  Hardly a word of English could be heard.

Think of the world as a globe wrapped in threads, each thread representing the unraveling travel of a tourist.  Not only would many of them transect New York, nearly all of those would pass through this little conjuncture.  And honestly, there’s not much to see in Times Square.  It’s why people seem to congregate on those benches -- from all over the world to sit with me.  How sweet of them.

I enjoyed the faces. Like this striking, leprachaunish beard. 



And this man I swore looked French (his speech proved otherwise.) 



And best of all, a “shady” family. 



I wondered about their stories.  Perhaps it’s the untapped novelist in me, butI find myself frequently passing people in cities or airports and looking for clues to their narratives.

Surrounded on the bleachers by so many untold stories, I was drawn to consider the global threads that have converged in my life.  Alison and I have always shared a tenderness toward international people.  Many have come through our house.  Some have stayed for weeks.  It’s delightful to have the time to explore some of those hidden narratives.

One couple in front of me got my attention.  They were Asian, perhaps in their seventies, and they sat with an uncanny patience, hardly talking, but nestling close to each other in an obvious comfort and tenderness.  They had taken their journey together.  This past summer, Alison and I had a few of those joint adventures.  Because of timing,they’re rare.

But it might be time to think once again about the international people who come through our town. Time to have our world opened up a bit by hearing a narrative unlike our own.

And find those common threads that tie us all together.