“‘I see you have a notebook there,’ I said. There we stood, unlikely friends totally blocking the stairs to the subway. It was a moment of pure magic.”
‘We emerged from deep under the streets of New York. To our surprise, a tall, dark-haired man came from nowhere. ‘I just know I need to,’ he said.’
‘My husband took me to Louis Vuitton and told me I could choose a purse for my birthday. Y’all, I’m not a Louis kinda gal.’
“I went in the store and felt…a wee bit outta place. I quickly turned my rugged Fossil purse around so the sales people wouldn’t see the brand and know I didn’t belong. I found a sales person who offered me champagne. CHAMPAGNE? Then, I asked the price.”
‘I can’t take the way my dad watches me get dressed. I need to leave,’ I told my friends. A man near us was listening. He was wearing an NYPD shirt. He said he would help me.’
“The man came over, introduced himself and told us he was a police officer. I was scared. My dad was old and I was his caregiver, so I didn’t want to press charges. I just needed to make things better. This man listened. I mean, really listened. I stayed out with him later than usual.”
‘During our photo shoot, a man screamed, ‘Dirty terrorists! Leave my country!’ He was an older gentleman, and looked absolutely disheveled, pointing at us. We were caught off guard.’
“He pulled out his privates while giving us the middle finger. We were shocked, mortified, and disgusted by what we had seen. But we are professionals at what we do. We continued on with our shoot. The man started approaching closer and closer.”
‘Just be a good boy and relax,’ he said. He was my teacher. Other men watched. Next was a priest and a trio of monks. I was 11 and my parents didn’t know.’
“I put on my backpack, left school, and walked across the street. I was surprised to be greeted by two smiling men who didn’t offer me a Coke, but real alcohol. I was flattered to be included in such grown-up activity. All three of us got into the car. I was naïve to their motives.”
‘We swiped right. She was heading on a huge trip. My first thought was: SHE’S ADVENTUROUS. Then she asked me if I’d join. My second thought was: SHE’S CRAZY.’
“Nevertheless, I booked all my flights. We had a match. We spent every single day together. It could have gone awry, but it didn’t. It became clearer that, ‘If you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it.’ So I did.”
‘He said, ‘You can look like a wholesome American beauty, or you can look weird and androgynous. We want to wipe all of the wholesomeness out of you.’
“I started counting every calorie, I ignored my hunger, and I’d work out without eating much or anything after. I’d weigh myself whenever I could sneak into my parent’s bathroom. The scale dictated my happiness, the size of my clothes measured my worth. Hopefully I can sustain this starving myself thing for the next ten-ish years, I’d think to myself.”
‘The vulgar lyrics were blasting. LOUD. During the prayer. I cannot make this up.’: Bride hilariously recounts random reunion during wedding with strangers from their engagement
“My husband drops to one knee. All 3 guys start screaming: ‘Say yes! Did you just do that?! That’s epic!’ Fast forward. Halfway through our ceremony, who crashes the wedding? OUR ENGAGEMENT FRIENDS. My husband and I locked eyes. We knew it was them. Our wedding guests look on, HORRIFIED.”
‘I wasn’t even near him,’ actually means, ‘I was standing directly in front of him trying to touch his eyeballs with my eyeballs.’ You will learn to like Blippi. Because YouTube will show you other videos that are SO MUCH WORSE, HOLY CRAP.’
“Our babysitter is expecting her first. I thought about stuff I want to tell her in preparation for motherhood. And then I got home and unloaded 17 bags of groceries that somehow did not include the ONLY two items I specifically needed. Probably should warn preggo about that.”
‘I saw a tower had been hit. I opened the curtain and saw the smoke over lower Manhattan.’: Man credits random encounter with ‘lifelong best friend’ for saving his life on September 11
“When I woke up, I heard the shower going. Then I heard someone leave the apartment. I rushed to Mike and Elena’s bedroom and hollered for him. No response, so I kept hollering, ‘Mike, Mike are you in there?’ Moments later, his tower was hit.”
