We took the Little Pirate to NYC for the weekend. It was a mix of unexpected snobbery with sides of nastiness and a few scraps of genuinely good behavior. I almost don’t know what to think anymore of the place I’ve considered “home” for my entire life.

The bouts of nastiness from complete strangers hit me in a place in my core where I just could not shake it. Perhaps because it reminded me of growing up in Connecticut and how that whole Keeping Up With the Jones’s thing wasn’t for me, and how I never want my child subjected to that bullshit. People told me to “blow it off” when strangers were rude, but I have a real internal debate about that. I don’t want the Pirate to learn that it’s okay to be insulted and bullied, and yet, I don’t want to have to point out to all the assholes of the world that they are in fact, assholes.

In any case, not to belabor the negative, the Little Pirate did her best to show New Yorkers that she’s no snob by bringing her “No One Is a Stranger” tour to the Big Apple.


“Hey mister, any news about this Government Shutdown?”

“Hey mister, any news about this Government Shutdown?”


“Oh, hello!”

“Oh, hello!”


“I Wanna Move in! Will the Co-op Board approve me?”

“I Wanna Move in! Will the Co-op Board approve me?”


“I’ll give them kissies! And you too Mr. Doormen!”

“I’ll give them kissies! And you too Mr. Doormen!”

I look at her and I’m so proud that my kid is so friendly and makes strangers so happy and I have no idea what we’ve done right other than maybe raising her in the city where people are constantly around. The burbs and the cul-de-sac aren’t looking as good to me these days.

This final picture isn’t very clear, but it was the best I could get considering the circumstances. We brought the Pirate to an Upper East Side Playground where she was the only one in Osh Kosh and Carter’s clothes. No little Polo men on her shirt or Burberry patterns for her. But there was a parent there who Trumped all parents. He was relentless in pursuit of a group of pre-teens on the playground equipment. Up the ladder, down the fire pole, across the bridge, and he never got tired. We all stood there with our mouths open just saying how cool it was that this man was playing with the kids – and the kids were loving it.


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Whoever you are buddy, you put the rest of us to shame, but I’m happy to give you the Parental Win for not giving a crap what the Upper East Side snobs around us thought.

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