Beware the Ides of March

Unless you go to one of few select universities, March is the longest month for many people, with no breaks or long weekends. Thus, the creation of many random holidays, including Pi Day and National Potato Chip Day last Sunday and St. Patrick's Day tomorrow. Yesterday was the Ides of March. No, it is not really a "holiday" but I feel a need to write about my night for it is the right amount of absurdity for a blog.

I met up with a friend to see "Next to Normal" on Broadway. We got there at the 6PM for the lottery only to face over 100 tourists and gay men as our competition for the 26 front two row seats that were available. We didn't win the lottery but we got partial view seats as "lottery losers," which we were very happy with because this was our third time trying to get tickets. The show was amazing despite Alice Ripley and Aaron Tveit's absence. I was tearing up throughout the entire second act but was comforted to hear so many people sniffling besides me.

After the show, we had dinner. My friend's parents gave us a call and said they were in the city and can pick us up in about half an hour. This was 11:15PM. Since the restaurant was closing, they were very much ready to kick us out but in a friendly way. We decided to wait at Parson's nearby Fashion Building, home of Project Runway. As we walked down the street, I witnessed stressed out men in suits walking disorderly down the street. Who were these men? Surely, accountants. In fact, that is exactly what my friend's parents were doing- trying to get their taxes in before 12AM deadline. As we waited in Parson's lounge, my friend received frantic phone calls from her parents about postage stamps because they apparently don't sell stamps at the post office after hours. When they finally picked us up at 12:15AM, they told us horrific stories of people at the post office. Picture hundreds of Manhattan businessmen trying to get their forms postmarked on time- it can get pretty scary.

March 15th is always a frantic day for New Yorkers. Whether you are trying to win lottery tickets for a Broadway musical or trying to get your taxes on time, chaos ensues. Well maybe it is just like any other day in the city.