In a city known for its particular brand of rudeness and hurry, we have not dealt with one bartender, waiter, man on the street, person in an elevator, attendant, cashier, or person in general who has been anything less than friendly. Well, okay, there was the one cab driver who drove us to Sardi's for dinner and when we first got into the cab said he had never heard of Sardi's and when I told him it was in the theatre district, snapped at me that the theatre district is a very large area, and tossed a book of restaurants in Sharon's lap so that she could look up the address - which, by the way, is as ridiculous as a cab driver in Houston not knowing how to find Reliant Stadium. But what's the fun of a cab ride in this city if you don't get to experience the surly personality or the speed-demon, horn-honking drivers? We got the later on our return home last night. That guy got us to our hotel in about two minutes, taking the same roads that the earlier driver had used on the 10-minute drive to 234 West 44th (which, by the way, is where Sardi's is, in case you need to tell a cabbie some day). Mom gripped the door handle with one hand, and my hand with the other, and Sharon later told me that she was too afraid to look where we were going and had to look at her feet the whole time. I'll admit that I held my breath at certain points. That cab driver didn't say a single word to us, which I think is due to the supreme level of concentration necessary to drive like he does.
I was trying to think of a MasterCard ad to describe what it felt like to watch the Kentucky Derby in the upstairs bar at Sardi's with my arms around my mom and my friend standing beside me, but all I can come up with is the Priceless part. Certainly, it was one of those bubble-to-the-surface moments of happiness I'll not soon forget.
When we arrived home last night, after Mom went to sleep, Sharon and I were overtaken with the need to drink wine and champagne in one of the numerous bars here at the Waldorf. And then we were overtaken with a need to go shopping. And in a strange turn of events, I did not buy anything for myself. What I did buy was an Escada outfit for mom to wear to her birthday brunch today. And what's priceless about that was when she woke up this morning, she asked me, What do you think I should wear today? I picked up the gift box and said, How about this?
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