Seen on the Streets of Manhattan

In a city where you walk most places, you tend to see a lot of details you might not notice from the confines of a car. Some are curiously interesting, some make you scrunch your nose in disgust and some are tragic and sad. I'll add more as they present themselves and as something in my memory triggers things I've already seen...

Seen on the streets of Manhattan:

- A giant blow-up rat tethered to the ground outside an office building, a not-so-subtle message from an unhappy workers' union. (I thought it was some exterminator's clever marketing gimmick!)

- A REAL rat on the sidewalk curb just outside a MacDonald's, crouched over nibbling on something. Did not even flinch when a guy threw a french fry and hit him on the back.

- A multi-colored polka dotted cement mixer truck.

- A pedestrian get hit by a taxi cab.

- Multiple fender benders as drivers attempt to wedge their vehicles into tiny parking spots along the curb. (One woman ripped a jagged tear down the entire side of her minivan. And yes, she was on her cell phone. Which is illegal in the city, by the way.)

- A scene that replays with disturbing frequency.... various moms with usually younger children (probably between the ages of 5 and 10) yanking them almost viciously by their arms, yelling at them to behave, pushing them into stores and actually cussing at them with language so ripe, it would make Andrew Dice Clay look tame. What wonderful role models.