So it's another fortnight passed and I did my volunteer stint at Out of the Closet Thrift Shop. As I have mentioned earlier, it is great to have a place like this so close to home. I just have to roll out of bed and get dressed and get there. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be doing too much from 10:30 to 2:30 on Saturdays anyway, most likely.
Two gay men came in and must have spent more than an hour going through every item in the store. It was much more fun, their visit, than the visits of similar straight couples and friends. These two are from Greenpoint and I asked them if Greenpoint is very different these days and they said yes, "Especially since the two of us arrived."
I am also discovering that being there is a good place to hear about what's happening locally. E is a font of local information. The current local outrage is a merchant, Eli's, trying to get a variance of some sort for somethig that benefits only them, and that the neighborhood does't need. Working there is good. It's good to get news informally. Sometimes that's the only way you hear things. My neighborhood is wildly overdeveloped as it is. Some old lowrise buildings known as the Cottages are in the process of being torn down. When you see the surrounding taller structures, you cannot help but realize that the people in those buildings benefited from having the smaller ones around. They will be effectively penned in by the subsequent high-rise that will undoubtedly follow there.
People benefit from diversity, in terms of religion, ethnicity, cuisine, and yes, even architecture.
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