So, I was up in New York City the other day. I went up with the lady to check out a show called Accomplice. I call it a "show", but really it was more like a scavenger hunt crossed with a walking tour crossed with interactive theater…scratch that, more like if your life was the Michael Douglas movie, The Game. How it works is you pre-pay online, and are sent a cryptic email containing a street corner to meet on at a specific time, a map, and a registration number. That's all the information you're given, except to bring a copy of your registration and be there promptly. Had I not read so many of the independent reviews, I would've sworn it was a scam.
We woke up early, hurried over to the Bolt Bus (hooray Bolt Bus!), and, next thing we knew, we were standing beside Madison Square Garden. For a little context, if you've never been up in New York city the week before or after Christmas, it's completely overrun by tourists. I call them Foregrounders, or F.G.s, because they just walk around all day, standing in front of things, taking pictures. We drifted from one corner to the next, catching successive waves, trying not to swim against the current, and about 30 minutes later we washed up in the desolate-by-comparison West Village.
"There it is," I said, and pointed across at an ordinary-looking corner, beside a park.
"You think those people are waiting for the show, too?"
It's subtle, but I think there's a difference between people who are waiting for something specific, like a bus, or a friend, and people who are just waiting. This group was the latter, the confused sort. We managed some awkward introductions (our group had four people from London, and and a couple from Jersey)…and waited.
Precisely at 3 PM, a woman holding a clipboard emerged very suddenly from the greater sea of strangers. I won't spoil the show (which I would definitely recommend seeing) but, more or less, for the next three hours we were given clues and sent around the West Village, trying to solve a mystery. Every place we went, we waited for the next character to turn up and continue the story, only they were dressed like ordinary people - a street sweeper, a bartender, etc - so we could never be quite sure who was in on it and who was just a regular stranger. That was the coolest part, by far. Suddenly, I was aware of them, people, strangers, all around me. I hadn't had that feeling since the original Spaces journey. I realize that sounds like a bad feeling, but actually it's good. For at least one more afternoon, I was sensitized again to the astonishing, real-life, ever-meshing network of humans.
So, here's a little mini-resolution for you: next time you go out into a public space - a farmer's market, a city street, a park, wherever - just take a second - just one - to look around and realize how many people you don't know. The point is not to be afraid or overwhelmed…but the opposite, to recognize how rare it is to actually know someone; how exciting it is that the person you're supposed to meet (a new friend, perhaps) is out there, like Where's Waldo, only he's not wearing his candy cane sweater, he's undercover, so you'll just have to keep your eyes out and be ready.
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Semi-related story…
