Anonymous commuter legs. Don Delillo wrote about commuters using their “retractable commuter faces”.
Becoming neutral to the world is tough. Either end of the balance will do. The fulcrum slides between being so subtle that you become the paint on a wall, a faded brass light sconce, the potted ficus that needs a little water, neutral beige to the senses that can’t get a bead on you to the other tilt of being so gilded with hubris that you look belongingly and enter a different blind spot — anonymity by acceptance. I have a new friend, S, who is very adept at this latter tilt of invisibility. It’s primarily why me, and 3 others (M,J,and S), attended (the final hour) the United States - Mexico Chamber of Commerce Northeast Chapter celebration of Mexico’s 196th anniversary of independence at the Puck building in Soho. I think it’s about wearing a black jacket, being tall, and maybe being German too. The celebration was about being fed delicious tamales and other treats washed down with wines and other spirits all while, at one crazy cliché point, shouting in unison: VIVA LA MEXICO!!!
3 times. By then, I was fully invested in this party and was shouting loud enough to stir the soul of Emiliano Zapata…although he’s got more to do with Mexican Revolution (civil) than independence…still, I woke him up. I woke up the dancing skills of the caterers too, with whom we shared significant dance floor space waiting for the someone to finally kick us out. By now, I wanted to be caught.
Later, I got curious about what we were attended and found out it was event which cost:
$140.00 non-members
$140.00 non-members
I’m not yet a member. But someone at work had nicknamed me Puck on the day that I became invisible (or accepted) to the merry-makers packed inside the Puck Building. So maybe I am a member. To all things, Puck.
(photo doctored to protect the identity of S, who wishes to remain anonymous…like a ficus.)