Brooklyn

In Williamsburg right now, about to attend an opening I thought I wouldn’t be able to attend, but my St. John’s classmates could only get a dinner reservation for an hour later than planned.

The guy at the cash register here is the type I despise: “I’m too cool to talk to you, so my responses to your words will consist entirely of raised eyebrows, quizzical looks, and languid pointing at objects about whose location you inquire.” Even when he finally had to admit that I was right about a piece of equipment not functioning, he couldn’t admit it to me directly, but had to turn to his co-worker and complain about the equipment, then handed me my refund without looking at me. Go to hell, Joey. There are many more dangerous types in the world than this one, but this one is among the most reprehensible.

Otherwise, the 9/11 terror threat is receiving a very visible response from the NYPD. I’d seen soldiers with automatic weapons on the Paris Metro before at certain times, but never in any American city. But there were cops all over the A Train, and the aforementioned commando types in Penn Street Station.

Since the L in Brooklyn is closed and vehicles on the Williamsburg Bridge are being checked, the speculation is that the threat was to blow up one of the bridges with a truck bomb. But who knows? I’ll be home all day on 9/11 anyway, catching up on sleep, laundry, and some writing.