Macy's Day Parade

Another day of spectacular Thanksgiving 2008. I had been hoping that I'd get to see the Macy's Day Parade while I was in NYC. I wasn't sure Sr. Anna Marie would be able to or even up for the adventure. Yet she was. This morning she had to help with mass and then we were off on an adventure neither of us know much about. As she worked this morning I cooked. I prepared a kimchi, rice and egg dish. Thanksgiving morning and I'm cooking with Kimchi. The irony...

We made our way to Times Square and were totally disoriented by the mass of people, road blockades and police. We couldn't figure out how to get to the parade route only 2 blocks away. There was a massive line of people being directed towards the route. We got in line and found ourselves inching but at least it was in the correct direction. Just as the parade was coming to Times Square we were in a perfect position. We were right up in front. I was so excited. I thought we had "struck gold" as far as "viewing points" went. The police got on the crowd--the moms and dad's with their small children--and told us we had to continue moving (away from the parade). They treated the crowd like we were doing something wrong. Yet none of us knew there were "rules". No one moved. Are you kidding, the parade is here! Again they said to keep moving. No one moved. They then flexed some vocal muscles with a threat. They seemed power hungry rather than concerned. They said they would start pushing us and all those with small children wouldn't be exempt. It was a pretty significant threat for a group of families who were totally non-threatening. I'm sure there were security issues at stake but the way they handled us was very poor. It was clear that there was division among to the officers. I didn't want to see anything get ugly--not on Thanksgiving and not with Sr. Anna Marie-- so we went on in search for a friendlier place.

Police directed us to 44th street where they had just opened up the street. We were hundreds of yards back from the parade route here. We could now see the balloons going by, we heard the bands but couldn't see the people in the parade. A few families brought ladders and propped their kids up on the ladders for a better view. A clever idea and a dangerous one with so many potential pedestrians watching the balloons and not where they were walking! We must have watched half the parade this way. I thought it was great. I was seeing the Macy's Day Parade live even if from a distance.

I could tell Sr. Anna Marie was getting cold. She turned around and said something like, "follow me". We set off into on of the biggest crowds I've ever been in. Not even in Seoul have I encountered this kind of crowd. What looked to me like a wall of people not to be penetrated turned into Anna Marie's pathway to the front of the parade. I couldn't believe her skill. She weaved us through the tiniest spaces and got us some 10 people back from the parade onto Broadway. She still couldn't see much. I on the other hand because of my height could see a lot. All of the sudden I was at a parade with marching bands, clowns and floats. It was so much better than viewing from a far. We were warmer too. We could see all of the balloons on their way. We had a great view of the score of people lining both sides of the streets underneath the Mega advertisements of Time Square. I grew up watching this parade on TV. I never dreamed I'd have a chance to see it in person. It was an electric morning. Santa Claus ended the parade and somehow the mass of people disbursed much more easily than it gathered.