I'm back home after spending last week in New York City. There really is no better way to start the New Year than a trip to New York. Many of you might think that is better to go to the Carribean, or Hawaii, but I get my juice from the energy in New York.
During my visit there, I stayed in a pretty elegant hotel, where the management and crew are doing their best in providing their clients their every need, they really have people who have people to wait on you and take care of your every need. Well not really every need but close.
What's funny about this trip was that I have not found any inspiration in any of the real upscale places. The places that nobody ever recommends or writes about are the things that I like most about New York.
Three doors down from my hotel is a small Cuban restaurant that opens at 6 AM. As soon as you open the door you are transported to another time and place. The music is blaring, the cooks are singing and dancing, and they remember your name and what you like to eat.
So as soon as I walked in, they greeted and waved, then one of the girls approached me and said, "Spanish coffee, cream, sugar, and cinnamon, right?" I just nodded. Then the grillman said, "Cuban, or ham, egg and cheese sandwich?" I ordered the Cuban one which is really one of their best items here. It's not the phony imitation you'll at many places in Florida.
So while waiting for your ordered breakfast, they will provide you first with some starter food like fried plantains, as your breakfast comes in stages, and you'll only get them when it's ready.
Meanwhile the drivers are coming in and out, bringing in everything under the sun. They all get food and drinks to go. The clientele is as diverse as you can see anywhere. There are suits, cops, construction workers of all stripes, young and old, short and tall, skinny and fat, and all New Yorkers, by birth or assimilation.
About a half hour after I sat down, a young girl walked in with some neon sneakers, which brought out a shout from the grill man, "Hey...where'd you get those Dominican shoes?" That got a huge laugh from everybody, including the girl.
This type of spontaneous humor is remarkably different from any chic joints, where you could hardly hear laughter.
After a while, I noticed one of the regular girls wasn't in. I asked the grillman where she was. Two nights earlier she was mugged on her way home after a party. She got whacked around by a couple of mooks who bruised up her face. She got some extra whacks becasuse she fought them, but she didn't have enough power to take them down.
Self defense tools like Stun guns and pepper sprays are illegal in New York. If only they'd allow people to carry these tools, they would have stopped this attack and other crimes in seconds, and a real working girl wouldn't have to miss a day of work because of a street beating.
I told the grillman, who by the way is the owner too, to hold my table, and that I'd just go back to my hotel and be back in few minutes. Soon as I got to my hotel, I loaded up a few samples in a bag and went back to that Cuban restaurant. I had a little chat with the grillman/owner in the back, and before I knew it, I couldn't find my bag of samples. I misplaced it, sad to say. My memory has really been bleary these days.
I forgot a couple of Wildfire Sprays, Hot Shots, and a box of Lipstick Pepper Spray. My loss is their gain, and there were enough tools to cover the whole crew.
New York City is an incredible place, they have made many improvements to make it a nice and safe place to live, visit and work. But still, everyone should have the right to protect themselves all the time.
This anti self defense laws are nonsense and foolish, and should be overturned.
If you live in some idiotic liberal state, or even if you don't, defend your stuff with a
security surveillance camera or else it'll get stolen. And then nobody's thrilled. Except the guy who stole your stuff.
