the shrewdness of apes

driving from fort greene to williamsburg yesterday evening, i found myself on Bedford Avenue near Flushing Ave. in this heavily Hasidic area, i'm accustomed to seeing the clusters of black-coated people clogging the sidewalks and darting into traffic (especially during the Sabbath). the throngs were more plentiful than usual however, and many of the children were dressed in costume. buses idled at regular intervals and i soon found myself stuck behind a couple non-moving vehicles. waiting for the blockage to abate a young Hasidim beckoned to me through the window. i rolled it down and he asked me if i was heading "up Bedford". i assumed that he was going to tell me that the street was closed and to find another route, but instead he met my answer of "yes" by opening the back door and getting in. his friend who had been standing there quickly darted away as i wondered whether the white Honda i was driving could have really been mistaken for a cab. what to do? "how far are you going?" was all i could think to ask him, unsure of how i would respond if he wanted to go more than a few blocks away from my predetermined route. "Clymer" he said, which i recognized as being no more than 10 blocks away. traffic heaved forward, and he asked me if i was a Jew. i certainly wasn't wearing the traditional garb, but i was sporting a beard and a head covering, so i suppose i might have fit the loosest standards of looking Jewish. "no" i told him, and he then said that today was Purim and asked if i knew what that was. still flustered by the situation and his halting, accented English i tried to explain that while i had heard of it, i didn't know what it was specifically. two more blocks passed and we reached Clymer. he thanked me and jumped out into the night. as i continued on my appointed rounds, i couldn't help but try to peer into the backseat to see if he had left something (like what? a bomb? his wallet? some sort of pamphleture?). apparently he just wanted an 8-block ride.

later after relaying this story to some friends, Robin was nice enough to fill us in on the history of Purim and explain that the young man was likely drunk before recommending that i start a company called Shlomo's Car Service .

this now enters into my "only in NY" pantheon to go with the time i actually heard a cop say to someone "why don't you go take a walk".