The Joys of Life— Getting Older in The West Village

By Joy Pape

I received this email from my 84-year-old friend and neighbor who lives alone in a West Village apartment. I laughed as I read it and wanted to share this with you knowing many of you can relate and laugh too. 

“My scooter ride (a small 4-wheel electric mobility device) into the throngs of people in Sheridan Square was quite an adventure. I ended up in CVS miscalculating an aisle and knocking over a big rack. Fortunately, what it had on it was bags of chips, so I didn’t break anything.

Then in Brooklyn Fare at the check-out, a man had a big dog blocking my way, and I asked the man nicely if he could pull the dog aside. He did, but unfortunately, I ran over the dog’s toe, but the dog didn’t seem to notice it, thank God, so I think I just touched it.

So I’m a ‘Holy Terror’ unintentionally. I got stuck on some bad sidewalks (which there are much more of than I realized) and someone helped me there, and others helped with doors. However, I must say 90% of people were utterly self-involved on their phones or just plain impolite. Thank goodness many were quite sweet.

So that is my adventure for the day!”