Tuesday, June 09, 2009

A Moment Straight Out of A Movie


It was a moment straight out of a movie; seriously Hollywood couldn’t have done it better. I only wish I had my camera there to document it and even then I’m pretty sure still life photography wouldn’t have done it justice. A camcorder was definitely called for.

It was 10 pm and my friends and I were chilling at a small park in Greenwich Village. After several days of rain that would’ve sent Noah scurrying for his tool box New York had been granted a brief reprieve. The park was filled with people eager to shake off their cabin fever. It was comfortably warm night and a slight breeze carried the smell of spring in the park. You know the smell the smell of flowers blooming, rain soaked grass, and stuff that makes us allergy sufferers go ‘achoo’ but still it’s a wonderful scent. The air was also filled with the sounds of music generated by several musicians scattered around the park.

The topic of conversation as we stood about a foot away from a guitarist taking a break had been President Obama’s speech in Cairo. Even the one non- fan of Islam among us had to admit that it was a freaking awesome speech. We all agreed that for the first time in 8 years we all felt confident in the direction this country was moving in. I added my own personal hope that one day this world would look beyond religion, race, etc. and just come together as one. One of my friends playfully hugged me, “Always the dreamer Mia.” She’d said. “You never know man dreams can come true.” I replied. Then as if on cue the musician looked dead at me and began hitting some familiar chords on his guitar. My eyes opened wide as I recognized Come Together by The Beatles. I beamed at him and began singing in the smallest of voices as I swayed to the music. After several more chords the other musicians walked over and began jamming with him. Pretty soon a crowd had gathered to watch and spontaneously supplied the lyrics. Several thoughts crossed my mind at that moment:

1) I need to get back into the habit of carrying my camera with me at all times.

2) My friends really need to expand their musical history education beyond Tupac and Biggie. They couldn’t believe I knew the lyrics to the song. More importantly I had no clue as to how I knew the lyrics to the entire song though I suspected that my mom strapping headphones onto her belly for the entire 6 months she was pregnant with me had something to do with it.

3) Music is totally the ultimate unifier of people. There we were a crowd of at least 70 people of different colors, races, religions, and sexual orientations singing together to a song released in 1969 way before the majority of them had been born. Moments like that give me hope for the future and reinforces my faith in the human race. Maybe it should be mandatory for each head of state to play an instrument and several times a year they should get together at the UN and jam before discussing politics. I think the world would be a better place.

When the song was over the impromptu band decided to stick together and play some more Beatle’s tunes. As the third song ended my friends and I reluctantly decided it was time to leave. We all had to get up extra early in the morning. I approached the guitarist that had started the musical jam and dropped a few bucks into his case. He smiled and pointed at me and launched into I Saw Her Standing There.

As my friends and I walked out of the park with the echo of the still singing crowd ringing in our ears I couldn’t help but look around for camera and sound equipment. The whole thing had just been too perfect. I was certain that we were seconds away from being yelled at for trespassing on a movie set.

Labels: new york

Posted by @ 12:55 AM
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