…… to last night’s post.

I forgot to write about THE most important lesson I learned yesterday.
Seriously.
And it’s another cab lesson.

Most of the cabs here have monitors in the back that show entertainment blurbs about stuff going on in NY. It’s entertaining, unless you’re in the cab long enough to see it loop around several times.

But yesterday I saw a blurb that I hadn’t seen before. Last month the city passed a new law: the speed limit in NYC is now 30 mph. They wanted to make it 25, but the mayor gave in at 30. From 40, I think.
If you’ve never been here you need to know that no one ever follows the speed limit. Not at 40 and certainly not at 30.

So, this is the blurb/commercial that I saw:

“If you hit someone at 40 mph they have a 70% chance of dying.
If you hit someone at 30 mph they have an 80% chance of living.”

And that was it.
Really, seriously, and truly …… that was the entire message.
So it sounds like hitting someone is inevitable. It’s going to happen, so just make sure you hit them at 30 mph …… unless it’s someone you don’t like, and then rev it up to 40.
Good to know.
(OK, the next to the last sentence is just my thought. It wasn’t implied in the commercial. For those of you who are more literal than most.)

In other news …… I had the best time tonight! Yes, at the supper club (which was Studio 54, for any of you who know that name) that I was leery of going to because I’d be by myself, seated at a table with other people.
I will never be leery of that again.

When I arrived I was taken to a table and a seat where I sat next to a woman, who came with her mom, who sat across from her. They were chatting with a woman who sat on the other side of the daughter. On my other side there was an empty chair, and then a woman who sat across from her husband, and both were staring at their cell phones.
Those two were next to the stage. Front and center. It was a great table in that sense.
I was perusing the menu, not talking to anyone, when 3 men came up to the couple at the end and started saying hi and hugging them. It was clear that one of the men was friends with this couple and had not seen them in a while. One of the men sat next to me and the two others sat across from me.
The man directly across from me started talking to the mom and daughter, introducing himself. He said that they were from Houston. So I piped up and said that I, too, was from Houston. He was surprised and asked where in Houston and I told him.
Then he told us that he and his partner (the guy sitting next to me) had seen these two women (who were the people doing the show) 18 years ago in Houston. They loved them so much that when he saw they were performing in NY, he got airline tickets immediately to come see them.
I was impressed.
And glad that I had received one of my great emails about the show, and decided to see it.

He then somehow mentioned that he and his partner were on the board of a small theatre in Houston.
I, being the theatre person that I am, asked which one. To which he replied, “Stages”.
The theatre that Daughter #1 did her internship at six years ago.
Yes, really.
He was surprised and asked her name. I told him and he recognized the name, though he wasn’t sure if he had ever met her.
He then texted the director of the theatre to tell him that he was having dinner with Daughter #1’s mom. The director replied, “You’re kidding!!!?”.
Small world.

Then I remembered that one of Daughter #2 and #3’s friends has performed quite a few times at that theatre. So I asked him if he knew her.
He stared at me incredulously for a moment and then said, “Yes, we know her well!” I said that I had known her since she was 14, or younger. He then texted this young lady to tell her that he was having dinner with me. And she replied, “Whaaaaaaaat??!!!”
And now the four of us (and hopefully Daughter #3) are going to dinner Sunday night.
Very small world.

The women who sang tonight were really wonderful. They’re sisters and the show is called “Sibling Revelry”. One has been the lead in 6 Broadway shows (one of them “Cats”). The other has won several music awards. They both sang (and one wrote) the theme song of “The Nanny”, which we all sang together. 🙂

It was a very fun night.
It was great to meet these men, who have been together for 33 years. THIRTY THREE years.
Amazing. Not many couples, no matter what gender they are, can claim that.
The one next to me is a doctor in Houston, and he and I sang along with quite a few songs (when it was appropriate). He claimed that I was his new best friend and that we should travel together.

After the show a woman came up to me and asked if I had known the words to every single song. I admitted that I did not. There were two or three that I’d never heard before. She said that was surprising and that she had enjoyed watching us sing along.
Evidently she couldn’t really hear us all that well.
Thankfully.

As the show was getting ready to end, one of the sisters came out into the audience to talk to a few people. She came to our table and asked a couple of questions to the party on the other end (3 guys and 2 women). One of the men asked if he could say something. She looked surprised but gave him the mic. He thanked the two of them for bringinf music to people and making them feel better. Then he stood up, took out a small box, and proposed to his partner, who was sitting next to him. And who was hugely surprised.
The entire room erupted into applause and congrats, and the waiters brought out a cake with sparklers. The men’s mothers were there, but had been at a table on the other side of the room, so that the man being proposed to wouldn’t see them. They were very happy and excited and there were hugs all around.

The proposal:

The sparkler cake:

And while this might not be a popular thought …… I was very proud to be living in a city where a room full of people could celebrate and encourage love. No condemnation, no judging, just simple support of love.

It was quite a night.
I’m so happy that I went, and didn’t let being alone stop me.
I smiled as I walked home.
I love this city.
Ridiculously and totally love it.
It’s not a perfect place, but no place is.
But I still love it. Faults and all.

And I’m really going to miss it during the month of May.
But hopefully I’ll love being in Texas …… and in the house that will be my home.