Philadelphia (December 2008)

There's something magical about December in the big city. The street lights are a little brighter. People passing you on the sidewalk are a little less rude than in other months. The panhandlers wish you "Merry Christmas" whether you give them a dollar or not. Even the smells coming from the sewer and subway vents are not quite as noxious as usual. It's around 6:15am each morning as I begin the five block walk from my Center City hotel to the location of my meeting and I love the look and feel of the city rising from sleep. I pass two Dunkin Donuts on the way and they are full of folks needing that first cup of coffee and a sugar boost. It's too early for the street venders and their rolling carts of highly processed goodies (they roll out about 7am) but that is a good thing. The carts and everything hanging off of them are covered in a sheen of grease from the sausages, hot dogs and a variety of other gastric monstrosities they fry up inside. The aroma surrounding these carts is not a pleasant wake up call and is better suited for later in the day when you need a violent jolt to the senses.So, I reach my destination...and it's treasure of coffee and sliced fruits and bagels. Outside my conference room window is the towering City Hall and the sounds of the city taunting me. It's almost as if each siren, truck horn and jackhammer is saying "Merry Christmas, Bruce! Welcome to Philadelphia! Come out and play!" Maybe someday, my friend...you City of Brotherly Love...but when I leave this place today, I will race the dark blanket of evening back to my cozy hotel room. From there I will watch the city from my high window and marvel at the goings on, gawking like the country boy that I am. Then the battle within my mind will begin; do I venture down into the evening revelry (where I seem wear a hat that says "rube") or do I stay safe behind the locked doors and watch a repeat of Law and Order where a tourist gets murdered?