Yesterday, I drove up to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro to see the US Mens National Soccer Team beat up on Panama 2-0 in the final World Cup qualifier. Although the crowd was announced at 9000+, it looked like less than 6000 people were there in the chilly, drizzly weather. That joint was so empty that we could hear Tim Howard yelling field instructions from our ritzy club seats.
I stayed overnight and knocked around Boston for most of the day. Boston's one of those places that for some reason I've never had reason to really visit. I've been there a few times to see the MetroStars play the Revolution, or for USMNT matches, but then the trips into Boston afterward were always quick blitzes on the bar areas with no sightseeing attached. Although the weather sucked, I finally got to see why my friends all give me the "But you'd LOOOOVE Boston if you went for a weekend" line. It really is a beautiful city.
As usual, I'm bowled over when a city surprises me with general niceness of it's dwellers. The lady at the hotel wished me "a really wonderful day", the lady at the coffee shop I stopped at on Newbury gave me an extra shot of espresso gratis with a wink, and even the record store guys up the street were pleasant, which I'm totally not used to where I shop in NYC. I bought a copy of the new Gang of Four disc with the bonus remix disc at Newbury Comics...here's what the guy said:
"Hi, can I help you? You got the double disc...cool. Hey, if you are around later, Dungen is here at 6 to play an acoustic set. And if you give us your email address for our mailing list, I'll give you a Newbury pint glass free."
What? A nice record store clerk...complimenting a customer's purchase?...letting me know about a very cool free event...AND giving me something to drink beer in for free? Awesome.
If I'd have made that purchase at Other Music, the clerk would have given me the "that disc is SO twenty seconds ago, and all the cool kids are buying Dutch throat yodeling remixes on vinyl today" glare.
Anyway, here's a nice photo of a nice church at the Copley stop on the T, just because I'm still reeling from the niceness:
No comments:
Post a Comment