The Boy and I trekked out to Brooklyn last Saturday night to check out the Celebrate Brooklyn show of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings in Prospect Park. We not only got to hear some great music, but also learned a little bit about the difference between the two major boroughs.
We met the Occasional Empty Nesters who thankfully had arrived early and staked a claim at the top of the sloping hill facing the stage.
By the time we got there, after navigating
several service change delays on the subway, we had missed the first band and 19,800 of the 20,000 people who showed up for the show were blocking easy movement. Somehow, The Boy spotted the Occasional Empty Nesters and we clamored over picnic-ers with the zeal of spawning salmon.
The mood was lively with lots of dancers and hula-hoopers around us gulping wine from boxes. No glass or cans allowed!
Then a weird thing happened and i knew we weren't in Manhattan anymore. As the show ended and the lights came up, an authoritative voice from the stage thanked everyone for coming and prevailed on all of us to clean up after ourselves and leave the park as clean as we left it.
Now just a week or so before at Summer Stage to see Flaming Lips, there was no call-to-clean-up action when the show ended. We waded our way through pathways ankle deep in cans which no one made any effort to transport to the trash bins. When I remarked about the clean up request to the Occasional Empty Nesters, their retort was, "This is Brooklyn."
So I guess Brooklyn is Manhattan's more anal sibling, who invites everyone to a party and then asks them to clean up before they leave.
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