As I left the school today, wondering if I'd gotten any closer to figuring out the classroom management needed for these students, it started to rain. And then next to me came the voice, "Ah another fellow musician." A woman dressed in black, carrying a bassoon on her back. "It rains on us all," I said. And here was an immediate friend, originally from Israel, speaking in a candid, comfortable and straightforward manner. She could not have been more New York. We chatted during our train ride to the same stop and she got my email address.
And on the way back home a stranger paid for my train ticket when my card didn't read and I got stuck in the turn style with my cello. I could have backed up, but he was too fast.
People are so open and closed with the strangers around them. They ignore them or interact with them, but not much in between. It is so liberating to be in this city after Japan, where emotions were so covered, but still understood. There need be little deciphering here. The pace is fast enough that there isn't really time for it. Any offense gets off a few stops later, walks on. People are too involved in their own lives to be concerned for others. And so kindness actually feels more sincere, more open. Like the woman who spontaneously opened up to me, or the guy who paid for my fair. They have nothing to expect in exchange. Just people being nice and open. No strings attached. Another side of human nature.
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