…says Lola to Charlie. “I’m not happy, Charlie,” says Lola. “Why do I feel so really, really not well?” So Charlie says “It’s those germs in your mouth.” “Germs?” says Lola. And Lauren Child, author of the Charlie and Lola books, illustrates what germs look like with a kaleidoscope of colourful splodges with childish scribbled faces against a dramatic black background. E learnt about germs that way and if Lauren Child had been writing her books today, here in the US, she would almost certainly included a reference to Purell to zap those germs. I’d never heard of Purell when I lived in the UK. I’m not sure if it’s even sold there, but in the US everyone knows what it is. Purell is a hand sanitiser. It’s the clear, alcohol based gel that clean-obsessive New Yorkers carry in their bags everywhere they go. It is pretty much a verb here. This week’s New Yorker magazine spent five pages documenting the rise of Purell from an idea by a couple called Goldie and Jerry Lippman who founded Purell’s manufacturing company, Gojo Industries in 1946. The dispensers for Purell and its competitors can be found in the library, by the post boxes in my building, by the door to the school, pretty much everywhere. Like the motion sensitive paper towel dispenser, the goal is not to touch anything, if you can help it and if you do, immediately apply Purell. I was with a native New Yorker a while back and we had been to a public building and as we walked out she said to me “you’ve got your Purell, right?” I looked confused. She whipped out a bottle and told me what it was and I said, but I use baby wipes if my hands are mucky. Not any more. I went to the chemist (drug stores, they’re everywhere too) and bought a tiny bottle for a few dollars. Just to fit in. Just to be a proper New Yorker.
Bounty hunters
And can someone please tell me why New Yorkers are so obsessed with Bounty kitchen towel? Every time I walk down First Avenue there are the poor Fresh Direct delivery guys wheeling huge trolleys with massive multi packs of Bounty kitchen towel perched on top. When I am in Fairways, practically every trolley (except mine, of course) has a 6 or 9 or even 12 pack of them. I don’t get it.
Can you tell what it is?
Obviously it’s a drink, but what kind of drink? What is that mysterious substance at the bottom of the glass? Any ideas?
Answer below:
Answer. It’s a lychee flavoured milk bubble green tea. The stuff at the bottom is tapioca. It’s huge and chewy and a bit like frog spawn. You need a really fat straw just to drink it. Quite nice really.
Birthday bonanza
It is E’s birthday. She is very excited. So I have had my first taste of sorting out a birthday in New York. When I was a kid, birthday parties were at your house, you had games, birthday tea, birthday cake, wore your special yellow, long 1970s birthday dress and everyone went home happy. Maybe I have sepia tinted memories of the 1970s in rural England, but this doesn’t exist here. I did my research, I looked at local venues, I talked to the mums at the school and quickly established that there’s a birthday racket going on and it’s EXPENSIVE. I emailed the place nearby that does birthday parties for kids who are creative, want to make little books, hang out with their friends and have a cake. The usual thing. Ah yes, ma’am, that’ll be $850 plus tax plus tip! And that’s not unusual. Other venues wanted over $1,000 for a 2 hour hire, but they included the food, the cake and party bags, so that’s all right then. Blimey. I looked at ten pin bowling, a couple of hours of indoor, loud fun fuelled by cheap lager, but apparently that’s not what little girls want… I took E to a party where they allowed the kids to help themselves to frozen yoghurt that they served themselves from pumps in the wall and then covered in sweets. This left the parents to take their children bouncing home fuelled by their sugar high. So what did I go with? I have a very nice lady coming from a local petting zoo with some cute animals for the girls to pet and hold at my apartment. They will do animal -focused crafts, have birthday tea, birthday cake and (hopefully) go home happy. But I might just upgrade the party dress.
Where’s Winnie?
He’s here, well, in the New York Public Library. The original toys owned by Christopher Robin that inspired A.A Milne to write the Winnie the Pooh stories live in a glass box in the children’s library on 42nd Street. I was not expecting that! Have to say they do look a bit forlorn and unhappy in their box stuck behind the librarians and surrounded by over excited children.
No IDea
To be admitted to Government buildings you need ID. Most New Yorkers carry their drivers licence and use that. I don’t have a US driving licence, I only have my passport. I am loath to carry my passport with me everywhere because it’s expensive and a complete pain to replace if it gets lost. I forget to take it on this occasion. I show the security guard my credit card and other cards in my wallet and tell him I have an appointment. I play the British card and see if that works too. Then, as if from nowhere an older lady interjects. ‘You gotta have ID, what happens if you die? Who’s gonna know who you are?’. I try to ignore her and focus on the security guard but to no avail. ‘If you die and and you don’t have no ID, you’re gonna end up in the morgue and in City Cemetary and no one will know where you are. You gotta have ID.’ She is not helping my cause and I am still not getting in the building. She carries on, ‘I carry my ID even when I go to the store, you never know when you’re gonna get run over and die’. Eventually she shuffles off, ID fully on show on a chain around her neck and I am now faced with the supervisor, who is also deeply concerned I have no ID. I am saved by someone from the office who collects me and I breathe a sigh of relief. Gotta get some ID. Can’t face that again.
A tasty treat for your special day?
Presenting Birthday Bacon! And for that extra special birthday some Chocolate Bacon with Bacon!
I’ve been Elmo-ed
Sesame Street wasn’t that big a part of my childhood. I saw the Muppet Show in the 70s and can remember Debbie Harry featuring in one show and it being a huge thing. Here in the US, Sesame Street is still huge, even though it has been around since 1969. I read somewhere that 95 per cent of all preschoolers in the US had seen Sesame Street by the time they were three. Sesame Street characters appear on boxes of biscuits aimed at toddlers, I don’t know who they are so I have to read the small print as it’s assumed you already know. I took a look at a box of cards that someone had in a local play space which featured Sesame Street. They are big on the alphabet but I recoiled at the American spellings and rather insensitively gave them back with a ‘but I want J to learn to spell the British way’. Not a good way to make friends. Anyway, the reason for all this Sesame Street talk is because today I was accosted by Elmo. We did a real tourist thing and walked through Times Square, which was bitterly cold but didn’t stop us gawping at the bright lights and neon advertising. Passing a major toy store, there were a lot of people dressed up as cartoon characters, which is a massive magnet for any toddler. Next thing I know I have Elmo on one side (he’s bright red and very furry) and Minnie Mouse on the other, both of whom have their arms around my waist and are encouraging R to take a picture of me, J and E. E bursts into tears at this point, overwhelmed by the proximity of these characters and I can’t escape. A swift exit via a few bucks and we are let go. I had no idea Elmo was so mercenary!
Star spotting
I had hoped to see many stars wandering the streets of New York but as yet, no luck. I did see a dead ringer for a young Brad Pitt in my spin class this week, which made the class much more pleasant. A trip to a massive toy store yesterday was greatly improved by being advised by a very nice man who appeared to be channelling Dustin Hoffman! And walking up Madison Avenue, home of the high end designers and ultra expensive clothes, it’s good to see your classic fur wearing, high heel tottering ladies-who-lunch sporting sun glasses when there is no sun and hailing taxis with great success. Not quite Sarah Jessica Parker and the world of Sex and the City. Will keep looking for celebs and report back.
Will someone pick up the trash?
There was a huge snowstorm on the North East coast of the US last weekend. New York got off relatively lightly and the city enjoyed a weekend of playing in the snow. Central Park was beautiful and whilst the snow was soft and powdery, people managed to make the most incredible snow sculptures. We saw a snow horse, lots of snowmen and on one park bench a man had sculpted a woman reclining on the bench, she was possibly a mermaid, I couldn’t quite tell. It’s now Tuesday, the temperature is up and the snow is melting. People cleared the pavements leaving great mountains of snow like the sides of canyons. Now they are no longer pretty, but dirty from exhaust fumes and muddy footprints. The city looks ugly as it shakes off the snow and what it has revealed is the rubbish: mounds and mounds of rubbish lining the pavements where the snow is melting. It is horrible, great bags of recycling and household rubbish piled up and added to by the ubiquitous coffee cup and take out bags. I don’t know how long it takes for the rubbish men to resume their schedule, but I hope it’s soon, otherwise the rubbish will be taking over Manhattan.
nw3 to nyc 