Yesterday, my Mom and I went into New York City for a little spontaneous, Mother-Daughter, Shopping Extravaganza. Well, actually our real purpose was to attend a friend’s wedding celebration in Brooklyn, but we cleverly left four hours early to have time to browse around Union Square before jumping on the L train. Walking down 5th Ave (we chose to stroll downtown from Grand Central), we shopped and browsed, walking arm in arm (so Euro!) while sipping our iced soy lattes from Starbucks.
After hitting Anthropology(our favorite store), as well as Steve Madden, Lulu Lemon (favorite for athletic wear) and others, we found ourselves in the Puma store at 14th street.
“Ohh Puma!” Mom exclaimed, strolling over to check in the window for the new models. Seeing potential fall footwear, we entered the store, all five shopping bags in tow. As soon as we stepped in, we were confronted with a huge cloud of hazy smoke, smelling acrid and pungent as if there were some kind of electrical fire in the building. I swished the air in front of me and cleared my throat, about to turn around and go back outside to the humid but clear air. Before I could turn around, however, the salesman assured me, “Oh, don’t worry about the smoke, its nothing. Should be gone in a few minutes!”
“OK!” Mom said, bee-lining towards the women’s sneakers and ballerina flats. We both went immediately for a pair of purple suede sneakers (this is a common occurence, in which we have to buy the same products two times because we can no longer share them. Plus, my feet are a frustrating half-size bigger…) Sitting down on the bench, we started to try on, asking for other sizes, models, colors, and pretty much driving the salesman crazy with our many requests. Meanwhile, the smoke was growing thicker, but no one seemed to be noticing. Everyone was just shopping as normal, and we were too concerned with whether to get the purple elastic ballerinas or the black patent leather ones.
About ten minutes later, I started to hear a commotion outside, and… lo and behold there was a NYFD man walking calmly through the store, complete in gear, mask and pick axe!
“Humm” I wondered, “Maybe I should go check outside…” Leaving Mom with her pile of shoes and boxes, I left the store and stepped out into Union Square. I was met with an entire squad of fireman, and about five monster trucks, closing off the entire street! A large crowd was gathered, and everyone seemed to be looking up at the building above and beside the Puma store. My God! Why are they still in there?! I was about to go collect Mom to show her the spectacle when everyone in the store was rushed out by the fireman we had seen earlier. Last to emerge was Mom, three shopping bags in hand, and remorseful that she had to give up her shoe purchase.
“Where’s the other bag?” I asked, in a panic. It was one thing to not get a chance to buy the shoes, but it was a completely different thing to lose what we had already bought! Dodging around the fireman, I entered into the fumes (OK, I’m exaggerating, it was not like going into a burning building, but just for the story’s sake…) and ran to the back where we had been trying on.
“Are you alright, miss?” The fireman asked, “I have to ask everyone to please evacuate the building” He gently led me towards the door.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine! Just need to grab my bag!” I rushed to the little ottoman and scooped up the precious Anthropology shopping bag. Scurrying out, I saw Mom on the sidewalk, and I made a slow-motion parody of escaping the burning building, arms flailing and heroically grasping the nearly lost bag. We burst into fits of laughter, although in actuality it was probably a very serious situation. I could not believe we had been shopping for a good twenty minutes while half the NYFD was gathered outside and the building was filled with probably semi-toxic fumes! On the sidewalk, everyone was snapping pictures with their iPhones (I joined suit for the sole purpose of illustrating this story, see below). We hung around a few more minutes, but no flames seemed to fly from the upper stories of the building. They must have gotten it under control, for the crowd slowly dispersed and we left to continue our shopping. When we came back later, it all seemed to have cleared up, but the smoke was still stifling in the Puma store. Mom desperately wanted to brave it and get her shoes, but I convinced her that we had already gotten a fair share of toxic air for one afternoon. She reluctantly agreed, and I promised that I would order them for her online.
After all the excitement, we hopped on the L train and went out to a fabulous little restaurant in Brooklyn. It was called My Moon, and what do you know, the owner was Turkish! I was sad that Ediz was not there to meet him, but did my best to converse myself, and promise that we would come back together. The wedding party was lovely, but we sadly had to leave early to catch the train to come back to Connecticut. Now, back at home, on a dreary, rainy Sunday, I think about our little adventure yesterday (after, of course ordering the Puma’s online) and think, My goodness, what we go through for the sake of shopping! Fire, smoke, it doesn’t matter, we just want our shoes!
Mom Amidst the Chaos
