There we were, on a roof deck bar on the 24th floor of a Manhattan hotel. The view of the city was absolutely stunning. It was the first time in years that I felt this kind of awe for the City. We were surrounded by friends. The weather was perfect and Robert and I just spent the afternoon admiring an incredible art exhibit. For the first time in years, I thought Wow, I totally get you New York.
When I was a Sophomore in college I was convinced I was a New Yorker at heart. I thought it was the only city worth living in and I could not wait to graduate from Maryland, move to Brooklyn (or Queens) and take the world by storm. I mean, the bagels and lox alone is reason enough right?
“So apparently there is a huge power outage that hit over 45000 people just a little north of here.” Ryan said as he read his news alert off of his phone.
No one seemed too concerned. The music was going. The drinks were flowing. We were totally content watching the sun go down, chatting and witnessing half of the city completely dark. It felt like nothing could touch us.
But then, all at once, the music stopped, the lights turned off, and we were sitting in darkness ourselves. The power outage finally hit our little bar oasis.
“So time to go, right?” Robert turned to me and smiled.
“Definitely!”
Robert grabbed my hand and we ran down the 24 flights of stairs, down to the street and headed to the parking garage. As we walked through the darkness, I was shocked. I felt giddy instead of overwhelmed. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I knew Philadelphia had power and as soon as we got to our car, we would be headed home. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was with Robert and there is no one else I would rather spend a power outage with. And maybe it had to do with the way the darkness seemed to bring New York together and everyone was lending a helping hand. Or maybe it was a combination of all three… whatever the reason is, I found myself thinking again, I totally get you New York.
