Dang Yankees

Cool. Today I got to cross another thing off my "NY to-do" list - go to a Yankees Game at Yankee Stadium. And let me tell ya, I don't like the Yanks, but I do appreciate the free tickets I got. And I have to be impressed with the sheer amount of Yankee fans. There were 55,000 people at this game tonight. Yeah, that's a lot. (This is a picture of me marveling at this full stadium. It was impressive.)

But before I say more about the game, first you must know my saga. I should rename my blog to "Suzy's Sagas." I think it would make more sense. Anyway, as I've said before, I don't like doing certain things alone. One of the things I really don't like doing alone is navigating (it is not my strong suit). And I tell ya, I especially don't like navigating through shady areas (not shady as in dark... shady as in fear-inspiring). I had to ride the train in and hop off at the HARLEM - 125th stop, then find the subway. (Did you catch that? Because I said stop at H.A.R.L.E.M.) And ain't it so sweet that people talk about an urban renewal going on down there and all... Well, I saw no signs of renewal, can I just say. All I knew was that I was supposed to "turn left" after I left the station. Well, I turned left - I made the "L" with my hand and everything. I got these terrible instructions from someone who will remain nameless but whose name starts with a "T" and ends in an "im," who will probably be sleeping on the couch tonight. Little did he know that not every staircase and exit is made the safe way or faces the same direction. If he had said walk toward the giant body of water, then I would have been okay. Why can't men think like women sometimes?!?

So, here is a sweet innocent looking Bambi walking through Harlem, with her sad attempt at a stoic poker face and her earphones in, signaling that "if you talk to me I won't hear/listen to you, you scary big men." That obviously did not work, because even though I kept my eyes straight ahead of me and kept a quick pace, I must have also been wearing a sign that said "rape and kill me because I'm the foolish white girl whose husband didn't come pick me up." Yup. So after being accosted by at least 6 (I lost count after 6) large scary fellas, one of which actually pulled his car over and honked until I finally looked over at him in his big ass SUV and he proceeded to offer me a ride "anywhere" - and wasn't that nice of him? - I finally called Tim and asked him if he knew where I might be. And his answer just didn't work for me.

Finally, I walked into the cleanest looking store I could find and just asked the Middle-Eastern man behind the counter. He gave me the fatherly look that translated to "Oh dear. Why are you in this neighborhood, you poor little thing?" That kind of panicked me a bit, but his instructions were good, at least. He looked like he was even thinking of escorting me there. I almost wish he had. I know I must have looked a bit freaked. But all I have to say is you would be too if half of the people you passed by on the street was either soliciting you for $$, winking at you, or saying to you (and I quote) "You be safe, darlin'. You be safe." What the crap is that supposed to mean?!? Yeah, that is what freaked me out the most. People telling me to be careful.

So, I finally found the subway entrance and rode the oh-so-crowded 4 train to my destination - Yankee Stadium - but only after I let 2 subway cars pass because they were THAT full of people. I decided that I would just find someone wearing a Yankee hat and follow them. At that point, what did I have to loose?!?

When I finally met Tim at the station, we had to have silence time. I was so pissed I just couldn't talk. And then, I had to put on a happy face and a World Vision t-shirt and hand out magnets. That was priceless. I gotta tell you though, even though this was a TRAUMATIC night for me, it was also a bit of a self-esteem booster. As I was handing out magnets, lots of Yankee fans asked if they could have my phone number instead. Ah yeah. Apparently, I still got it.

Well, all in all, it was a good night - except for my drama. The game was incredible. It was the Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox and it was sold out. We had amazing seats (courtesy of the Yanks) in front of the box seats, were the club seating is. We would NEVER have been able to get these seats. Just wait till you see some of our pictures. And there were tons of famous people at this game, too. Laverne from Laverne and Shirley (Penny Marshall) was there, as well as Kevin Bacon, Paul McCartney, Alec Baldwin, and even Lorn Michaels. I have their pictures as well (from a distance). I wish the Red Sox had won, but it was a fun game.