|
Michael McLeod
I like this. Any story about people pulling together these days heartens me:
By Alyson Krueger
Jan. 14, 2022
Deni Bonet was considering leaving New York. “Being in the arts, it’s been really tough,” said Ms. Bonet, an electric violinist and singer-songwriter, who had watched many friends and colleagues move out of the city over the past two years. “I needed a New York moment to remember why I live here.”
She got it in an unlikely place: a two-hour-long Covid testing line.
Last month, she lined up to get a P.C.R. test in Washington Heights, the Manhattan neighborhood where she lives. She had performed at several holiday concerts and had rehearsed with a musician who had tested positive, so she wanted to make sure she was in the clear.
Ms. Bonet started talking to the man in front of her, who had walked there from the Bronx. “He worked for the D.M.V., and he wanted to make sure he didn’t infect anybody when he went back to work after the holidays,” she said. “I can’t remember why he said he needed a car, but I told him I had one.” She ended up giving him her phone number, in case he ever needed a ride. “I never heard from him, but I hope I will.”
An older couple who knew the history of the Art Deco buildings on the street started telling Ms. Bonet and her new friend, the D.M.V. worker, about them, as if they were on a walking tour. “I never look at these buildings when I’m walking around, but in line that was all there was to do,” Ms. Bonet said. A young woman shared recommendations for books and television shows with anyone who was interested.
The temperature was in the low 30s, and the group took turns holding one another’s place in line while people would leave to grab a slice or a cup of coffee. “My nose was running so I got napkins, and I handed them out,” Ms. Bonet said.
After she had been swabbed and left the testing site, she realized what could have been a terrible experience had made her feel joyful. “There is this great spirit that says we are going to get through this together,” she said. “It made me happy to see people being kind to each other. That’s all we can do right now.”
New Yorkers have become accustomed to waiting in the cold to get Covid tests, sometimes for hours. But some, instead of looking into their phones, are striking up conversations, taking the opportunity to interact and network in a city that has stayed in a mostly cautious and protective mode for almost two years.
|
