‘It Was About 3 O’Clock in the Morning When We Arrived at 17 Mott Street’

In my mid-20s, I moved away, but I visited as often as possible. Once, while waiting to cross 42nd Street at Fifth Avenue, I found myself looking up and marveling at the Beaux-Arts architecture of the New York Public Library’s main branch.

Unaware that the light had changed, I felt someone push past me hastily.

“Tourist,” she said.

— Stacy Reich

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Going Up

Dear Diary:

I was on my way to a physical therapy appointment. When I got there, I encountered a woman standing in the lobby near the elevator bank.

The elevator door opened, and I got on. The woman got on after me. I pushed the button for the 14th floor, and she asked me to push the button for 16.

She then asked if I would ride with her to the 16th floor, and then go back down to 14.

Thinking she was in a rush, I said sure but that since I had already pushed 14 the elevator was going to stop there anyway.