The other day, at 6am, I was walking down Fifth Avenue in New York. I was in a hurry, as is my norm. I was zigging and zagging. Although, at that hour one has more room and ability to speedwalk. I was listening to my music and thinking of some errands I needed to do at some point. I love that morning walk in New York where it feels like you can just jump side to side and laugh while doing it. And where not many people will care. Well, let’s face it not many people would care anyway other than if you are impeding the natural rhythm of speedwalking. But let me get back to the walk itself.

As I was walking, I walked right by Lord & Taylor. Or rather its old shell of a store. It had been in New York as long as I remembered. And yet it was closed. Had moved on. I used to love its Christmas windows. Sure Macy’s is divine at Christmas time but Lord & Taylor was also very cool. As I walked on by I noticed there were a few other morning people peering into the storefront windows. I was curious. Thus, I stopped to see what it was that they were looking at.

Turns out they were looking at type written signs announcing that asbestos had been in the building. Interesting. Not really. It was an old building. You know those old buildings had asbestos. This is not what fascinated me at 6am. I was amused by the fact that there were people reading these announcements at 6am. Not only were they reading it but they were completely into reading it. They were engrossed. And, that I found odd. I looked at the announcement again and couldn’t see what was so captivating. I shrugged and moved on.

Two blocks later, I wondered if I had been part of a psychology experiment. It can happen out in the wild, you know. There could have been someone coding my behavior for neuroticism or openness to new experiences. They could be looking to see what New Yorkers pay attention to when they are not speedwalking and eating to and from meetings. They could be looking to see how people take in public announcements made in small print.

Two blocks later, my mind moved on. I became curious about the large flashing displays on 7th avenue snd how many people actually looked up at them at 6:10am. Life is just one question of curiosity after another.