safety first!

34th street is usually a pretty horrible stretch of the city but during the christmas season it becomes absolutely unbearable. i typically try to avoid it at all cost, but since i am my father's personal shopper a wonderful daughter i had to pay good old macy's a visit this evening. so i put on a brave face, called to mind as much as i could remember from my sophomore year buddhism class, and set off downtown.

while experiencing everything i was expecting from a trip to herald square - mobs of people walking at a snail's pace, copious amounts of camera flash, a near accident with a stroller, a feeling of general hatred towards the human race - i also learned something new. macy's must be solely responsible for the drop in unemployment.

why? because at every escalator on every single floor stood an employee chanting some variation of "welcome to macy's. watch your step. please hold onto the handrails." considering the number of escalators and floors in the rather large department store, that's an awful lot of people just standing around explaining to customers how to stand on an escalator.