Helping other people: A lady named Kat

I know very little about this lady, except that we met every day at the US Open Tennis. That may not seem so surprising, given that she is meant to usher people to the right areas, but I never met her twice in the same place or at same time. Kismet? I have a list of coincidental meetings and those who have read the Celestine Prophesy will understand what I mean by saying there is a reason why I met this lady.

During our last exchange on Thursday, I told her that I wrote a blog and asked if she would be happy to be featured. She was and quickly took up a great pose! Her name is Kat, and when I asked her if it was spelt C.A.T., she replied sweetly, "Do I have four legs?"

Most of the week in New York City was pleasant, as previous trips have been in recent years. Manhattan has become cleaner over the years. Travelling by subway is relatively straight forward, and not too expensive. Food is always a great adventure, as is exploring the various neighbourhoods. Though I am no lover of shopping, it's hard to find a better place for bargains. I don't really know many New Yorkers well but the people we've met often have those well-known characteristics of the city: fast talk, quick wit, acid tongue (sometimes with a few foul mouth expressions). But we have also found New York people to be helpful, even kind. Some say that this has become more noticeable since the tragic events on September 11, 2001. A few examples for me on this trip. My wallet fell out of my trousers pocket on leaving a subway and a lady quickly signalled that before I got off the train. We stayed in the apartment of people whom we had met in Barbados, and with whom we had 3 days' contact: we had arranged a house swap but they could not make it south, but still left us the full run of their place.

I don't know if this lady is a native New Yorker but she is a great advert for the place. We had met because of her hat, which she promised me at the end of the tournament, but I told her I would not be in New York then. After that, we had met at various points in the huge tennis complex at Flushing Meadows.
Whatever the reason for the meeting, all will eventually become clearer, I hope. New York City is also a place for younger people, and even though children can have a good time there, taking very young ones around the city is really tiring. This time our little one did not travel, but we're still tired! But no complaints. We had great fun.