Jesus Christ!?

Will this city ever cease to scare me? Amaze me? Scare me? Amuse me? Scare me? Confuse me? Scare me? Throw me off me feet...did i mention scare me?

So me and my roommates were walking back from a nice quiet dinner, very close to our apartment when this lady comes up to us and asks, "Whats at the end of the road? You need to tell my friend, she is too scared to go over. Says its dark there. You need to tell her that its alright, there is a park there."

Dark in the Upper East Side? Ermm.. Straight up I was confused. Being the smart-ass and kind-hearted wanna be that I am, I stepped forward with a helping hand. (Not to mention, I am also the least experienced in NYC, both my roommates have lived here way longer than my paltry month and half!)

"Oh, at the end? Thats York Avenue. Very happening. [[note: I'd been to York Av. ONCE before]] Lots to do. Lots of light, bright. No need to be worried or scared. You should go!!"

As we're moving on, literally a step away from our apartment, the lady who wanted us to convince her friend starts blabbering about religion. There's something very eery about a middle-aged woman, moderately fashionably dressed up, at about 9:30 at night, asking us about whether we were good catholics, whether we went to church regularly or not, where we believed in Christ. I won't lie, I was scared.

"Erm, I don't believe in religion," I said. My friends were both behind me. Smartly quiet, smartly without retaliations or answers.

"Let Jesus into your hearts, he will show you the way, he will show you the light, the reason for living."

In my head I'm chanting...ram, ram, ram, ram..om namah shivaya, om namah shivaya, om namah shivaya..but on the outside I'm nodding my head, in agreement with this fanatic that we've met RIGHT OUTSIDE OUT APARATMENT..telling me to embrace Jesus.

Oh my GANESHAAAA help me out here! "ok, goodnight" I try to see. Does , she listen? ...yeah, what do you think? of course not! jesus loves you, jesus this, embrace him....i'm nodding my head, smiling, brining out my diplomat best, nodding, smiling, "understanding", "appreciating"...Jessssssssus Christ, was I scared!

She eventually left. We were shocked, to put it mildly. You never know what ticks people off, and i sure as hell dont wanna tick anybody off in this crazed city..

Religion is a way of life. What's my religion? Ermm...i dont know, the statue of liberty? Manhattan? The Subway? Dunkin Donuts? My computer?? hmm..