bronsin writes a book!

[bronsin]

Its a collection of interesting things that have happened to me in my life. Its availible at:

www.outskirtspress.com

Click on bookstore and search for The Storys.

Thanks!

Here is a sample


In the summer of 1982 I was able to take my first vacation with my family. I only had one week
off and we had a grand total of $375 to spend. So we had to be thrifty. The first day we would
drive to NYC and spend two days and one night there. I grew up in Brooklyn but we moved
away when I was three. When we returned for visits we stayed at the Travel Lodge on 42nd
Street. I hadnt been there in almost 20 years but I remembered it as a nice family type of
place. I thought it would be a perfect place for us to stay on our one night in the city.

On the first day when we got to NYC we visited The Statue of Liberty. It was a very hot day and it was plenty hot inside The Statue. There is a spiral staircase going up and another one coming down. One is inside the other but you cannot see the people going in the other direction. My wife and I took turns carrying our daughter up the stairs. It took hours because the line moved slowly. When we got into the crown it was kind of a surprise to see how tiny the chamber was. The iconic windows were small and scratched but afforded a magnificent view of Manhattan. My daughter was only about two years old but the trip to The Statue of Liberty is one of her earliest memories.

After seeing The Statue we decided to call it a day. We headed for the Travel Lodge on 42nd Street. At the motel my wife wanted to pay for the room with her credit card. I did not approve of credit cards in those days. I advised her to pay cash in the morning when we checked out. But I was overruled and she gave her credit card to the motel. So before we even spent the night there they had our money. I sometimes (rarely) say to my wife "Remember the time we stayed in the Travel Lodge in NYC and I told you not to use your credit card to pay for it?"

After dinner we returned to the room for the evening. The plan was for us to walk down 42nd Street to Grand Central Station. From there you can take the subway to Yankee Stadium and catch a ball game. A great thing to do when seeing the City. But my wife and daughter were too tired to go. I also thought my wife was a little unnerved about being in The Big Apple. Being from Brooklyn I have no problems with the City. The trip home would involve a ride on the subway after midnight. So we decided I would go alone.

So about five o’clock I wended my way down 42nd Street. I like wandering around NY. It was a warm and pleasant summer afternoon. At Grand Central I got directions to the platform for the train. Its a big place and I asked directions a few times on my way from passersby. On the train I realized I would have to change to another train to complete the trip. But I wasn’t exactly sure where the change happened. So I asked my fellow passengers. That set off a spirited discussion! The guy next to me yelled down the packed aisle "Hey Vito, where does this kids change trains to get to The Stadium?" Vito wasn’t sure. So everybody offered their opinion. I got off where I was told, made my connection, and got to The Stadium in time for the first pitch.

The Yankees were playing the Seattle Mariners. Craig Nettles tied the game with a two run homer in the bottom of the 9th. The place exploded like only Yankee Stadium can when the Yankees do something like that. But Seattle scored a run in the tenth. With two outs and a man on second Oscar flied out to end the game. It was very exciting all the same.

The trip home on the subway was interesting but uneventful. I arrived safe and sound back at the Travel Lodge. When I put the key in the lock I noticed the light was on through the crack in the door. They were still up. What’s going on I wondered?

I was about to find out.

I entered the room to find two distinctly hysterical people in it. Wild eyed my wife ran up to me and said "Rats there are rats!! Hundreds of rats! They come out of the walls when you turn out the lights!" Rats? Hundreds of rats? Really? I though "Oh my God my wife has lost her mind!" I thought the City had just gotten to her. "Look" I said "There are no rats! Its all in your mind. Now...we have a long day ahead of us and we are going to need our sleep. I suggest we turn out the lights and all get to bed." My daughter said "No Daddy no don’t turn out the lights! The rats will come!"

Rats. I wasn’t having any of that. Rats. They were just afraid of being in The Big Apple. I asserted my position as man of the family and made them get in bed and turn off the lights. In the dark I heard whimpers coming from the two of them.

After about one second of darkness I heard a noise that did in fact suggest there might possibly be something to what they were saying. I reached over and turned on the light. There were three rats climbing up to cord from the wall that ran to it. Now to be honest it is an exaggeration to say there were hundreds of rats. I didn’t see any more than thirty. Quick as a flash they all vanished when the light was turned on. Well there might be rats but that didn’t change anything. We still needed our sleep after all! I left the light on, the rats remained behind the walls, and (after a while) we all went to sleep.

In the morning my wife was furious. "I’m not paying for this room! I’m going down there and getting my money back!" I told her I did not think so. "This is NY dear. I don’t think they are going to give us our money back."

In the lobby the clerk sat behind six inches of bulletproof glass. There was a little space at the bottom of the glass to pass money through. With the sense of righteous outrage that women have when they are wronged (and quite sure they are going to get what they want) my wife told the clerk "We had rats! We had rats! I want my money back!" The clerk laughed and said "You didn’t take any home with you, did you?" Realizing it was fruitless to say anything, I kept my mouth shut. It took a while but it finally sunk in to her head that no refund would be forthcoming. Picking up our suitcases we beat a hasty retreat from the Travel Lodge.