Blog # 2 - "What I Hear"

I was sitting on the stairs at Times Square. The sun was taking its last breaths before darkness took control. It must have been quite a pleasant day because the people sitting next to me kept on talking about it. It was a weekday but still I could hear masses of tourists talking and walking. Ticket sellers of various tourist attractions, shouting to justify their wages. I could hear them trying to convince tourists for Broadway shows, bus tours and store sales. Music artists trying to get discovered were trying to sell their music CD’s by giving a preview of their music on little portable speakers. Most of the music seemed to be pop or rap. The sound of camera flashes were like waves on the ocean hitting the shore, in the context that they were never ending. Drunken tourists just shouting for no apparent reason making people around them uncomfortable. A beggar going around asking for money, surprisingly for marijuana with no inhibition in his voice. Also how can I forget the continuous horns and sirens because well it’s New York City. The screeching of brakes of every vehicle seemed to have their own particular tune. Taxi cabs honking to get their customers, while other people honking at the taxi cabs to get out of the way. There was some construction going on somewhere. It was having a competition with the horns on who is the loudest. Wind was blowing heavily as I could hear it whistling over my ears. Talking about whistling, the traffic policemen were trying to control the New York City traffic with their whistles. Individually all the sounds were just noise but layered up they created the city ambiance or should I say the “city symphony.”