Pedicab Ride

 

It was 9pm.

We were supposed to meet back with the group at 10:15pm

Rockefeller Center was a ten-minute walk from the meeting point.

We had plenty of time.

Or so we thought.

What we didn’t account for were the crowds.

Swarms and swarms of people,

Moving in droves,

To and from Rockefeller Center,

A traffic jam on foot as bad as the traffic jam in the road,

The only movement by inches,

Pushing and shoving,

Weaving in and out.

At one point, our group got separated.

Thank God for phones or I don’t know what we’d have done.

 

We found ourselves in a little open space around 9:40.

Foot traffic had pushed us in the opposite direction of where we needed to go,

And the only way to get to the meeting point was to go back through the scary crowd.

“I’ll pay for a pedicab,” Heidi The Librarian said.

I agreed.

So we hailed two pedicabs.

They trailed us as we walked a little-ways through the crowd

Until the police could let us through the barriers.

“Can you get us to the port authority?” I asked.

“Yes,” the driver responded.

There was no time for negotiations.

We simply hopped on and then…

Freedom!

 

We moved forward when cars and walkers stood still.

We rode through the streets,

Wind blowing through our hair,

Music blasting and people looking as,

We sang and laughed and had the time of our lives.

We saw more of NYC than we had previously seen.

We made videos and took pictures and laughed in sheer joy.

 

And then we arrived at the Port Authority.

And the pedicab drivers wanted $250 per cab, cash only.

And Jessi The Spanish Teacher had a bathroom emergency.

And the tour director was on the phone, asking where we were.

And cars were honking and people were yelling and

Venmo was trying to load and the director was trying to give directions

And Jessi was missing and

It was time to be at the meeting point and

It was the perfect storm of chaos and stress!

 

Maybe the drivers did take advantage of us.

Maybe they did take the scenic route instead of the direct route.

Maybe we should have negotiated prices.

But we were in no place to argue.

We needed saving.

And they saved us.

 

And then Amelia The Niece’s smile.

And echoes of Feliz Navidad.

And the feeling of freedom after being stuck in that crowd…

 

I’d do it all again.

And maybe this time,

I’d turn up the music louder

For our $500 NYC show!

 

😊