“There’s a wonderful sense of graciousness and kindness in the South that you don't have anywhere else. Plus, we have a terrible time trying to find good pork barbecue in New York.” Memphis native Kenneth Jackson, chair of the history department at Columbia University.
Recently my pal and I traveled to New York to watch the Bulldogs play basketball at Madison Square Garden, complete with the faith and wide-eyed anticipation of a small child on Christmas morning.
The aftermath was exactly the same as it was the year I was hoping with all of my heart for a pony and found a blue bicycle under the tree instead. Such is life when you choose to be a Bulldog.
I have been to New York many times, but I was always working and never got to see much of the city at all.
Mostly what I remembered was that New Yorkers had a pretty bad reputation for their rudeness and uncanny knack for mugging strangers in broad daylight. This trip was much different as we were out and about in the streets and museums, and no one tried to snatch my purse, not once.
When you go to New York you really need to have a plan of what you are going to do for four days, which we did.
It consisted of going to a basketball game the first night we were there, and we had to wing it the best we could after that.
Getting through two airports, (where we still do not understand the whole kiosk-ticket thing), trying to locate our luggage in an airport the size of Texas, plus a miserable ballgame had wiped us out for the day.
I understand now how New Yorkers travel so light with one tiny carry-on or a back pack. All you need is a black shirt and pants, earphones and your phone. That’s it.
Everyone wears black, talks on the phone everywhere they are, and they absolutely do not under any circumstances make eye contact with the hundreds of people they are walking past.
These are not our people.
You can spot a Southerner in New York a mile away. My pal knows someone or thinks he knows someone everywhere we go and will walk right up to them and strike up a conversation, especially if they happen to be wearing something maroon.
Even if they have never met they somehow come up with some person that they both know or some party or event that they both attended.
We are all best friends now and make future plans to get together. This happened several times on the streets of New York, and it was nice.
The Museum of Modern Art was tricky since I have a history of getting reprimanded at every museum I have ever been to.
I think it is on my permanent record because a large security type is always lurking behind me whispering on his earpiece wherever I go.
The museum was very crowded, as is everything in New York.
We ventured from room to room and tried our best to capture each artist and the meaning of his work.
Van Gogh was a particular favorite of ours along with about 300 other people who were crowded around Starry Night.
One poor girl was almost taken out by a rather large bouncer with an earpiece for trying to use a camera with a flash. I was so happy it was her and not me.
We moved on to another exhibit of some off-centered, beefy nudes and my pal said “This is awful! Who is this guy and how did he get in this museum?”
I could not help myself. I bursted out laughing and tried to whisper, “It’s a Picasso! That is what he does! That is his style that made him so famous!”
Pal held his ground and said, “Well, I think it is just wrong, the nose is over here, the legs are way too fat, and one of her eyes is not even on her face!”
Time to move on. Security in a suit was on my tail again.
After that it was hard to be objective and serious with the rest of the art, and honestly, there is only so much culture I can absorb at one time.
We did go to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum where there are no words to describe the terror and emotion of the attack itself nor the experience of visiting the memorial.
The Oculus is an indescribable piece of architecture replacing the train station at the World Trade Center that was destroyed during 911.
It is a mind-boggling glass and steel structure designed to look like a dove but it more closely resembles a pair of ragged, pointy claws that almost touch the windows on the 54th floor of the building next door. I get it, but geez it was scary looking, even for New York.
New York is exhausting. I really wanted to take in the architecture of so many of the beautiful buildings from the street but you will get run over if you do not keep the pace. Crossing the street is literally one herd of people on one side plowing in to the herd on the other side.
Cab drivers are on speed and signs like “do not enter,” or “caution construction ahead,” mean absolutely nothing. Traffic is off the charts so everyone is honking their horn as if that was going to help things out.
Our last night we were dropped off about a block before our hotel in Times Square and we walked right into a protest march against the New York police.
Apparently another African American youth had been shot by a policeman and the bull-horn cry was “Black lives matter,” and “Murder the police force!”
We could not do one thing but blend in or get run down so we blended.
My battle cry was “Black Lives Do Matter! We are the Blacks!” We cut out first chance we got and zipped in to Juniors delicatessen, and devoured an entire plate of New York Reuben Egg Rolls.
We kept our heads down and did not make eye contact with anyone until the protest march had passed us by.
New York is exhausting!
Reuben Egg Rolls
Vegetable oil for frying
12 egg roll wrappers
1/2 pound deli sliced corned beef, chopped
5 slices Swiss cheese, chopped
1/2 cup Sauerkraut, drained and squeezed
1 egg white, beaten with a fork
Thousand Island dressing for dipping
Yellow mustard
Heat the oil to 350 degrees in a medium sized pan. Lay the egg roll wrappers out on a cutting board. Mix the corned beef, cheese, and sauerkraut together in a small bowl. Spread a line of the mixture down the center of the wrapper on the diagonal. Brush the edges of the wrapper with the egg white. Tuck the corners in to the center and roll the wrap into a cylinder. Press the edges together to seal. Drop the rolls in the hot oil and fry, turning with a slotted spoon or spatula, until golden brown on all sides. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. Serve hot with Thousand Island Dressing and mustard.
Emily Black is a regular food and lifestyles columnist for The Enterprise-Tocsin.
