Somewhere To Cry About

Where is the saddest place in the city to be seen sobbing? As someone with an apparently innate ability to observe his fellow human beings at their lowest moments, I would have to say the grocery store: There is something about seeing a woman wheel a wagon through cramped aisles of processed foodstuffs, tears streaming down her face as she continues to fill her cart with the mundane items of our existence, that seems to violate the conventions of basic human dignity. (Duane Reade runs a close second for similar reasons.) Then there are the parks: Someone sitting on a bench, carefully unwrapping his lunch while quietly weeping, is a painful reminder of all the assembled heartbreaks we spend our days attempting to push past. And, of course, there is always the subway. And buses, which are even worse, mostly because you’re on the bus. Come to think of it, pretty much every place in town is a sad place to cry. I once had the idea to start a business that rented out rooms on an hourly basis where people could come to cry without worrying about being seen by their roommates or partners or coworkers. Maybe now would be a good time to follow up on that.

Photo by Ed Yourdon, from Flickr.