New Yorkers

This afternoon I had my haircut. Have I ever shared that I love having someone cut my hair? It feels great! And to make it better today, the woman cutting my hair spent the last 30 seconds giving me a scalp massage - it was completely unsolicited and unexpected. But boy was it nice!

Anyways, as I sat in the barber's chair I began to think back on my day and the various people I had encountered in one way or another. Suddenly I realized how incredibly diverse this great city is.

At 11:00 this morning I met with my professor and lab colleagues for an end-of-semester lunch. This group includes the individuals I worked most closely with during my time at Columbia. The diversity amongst us is striking. The professor is ethnically Chinese and was raised in Canada. The lab members include a man from Iran, a man from Nepal, a woman from Hong Kong, a woman from Singapore, an African American woman, as well as ethnically Indian and Chinese men raised in America. I think there were twelve in our group at lunch. Only two of us were white males.

Following lunch I stopped at the Columbia bookstore where an African American woman helped me get my cap and gown for graduation.

A bit later this afternoon I took some pants to the tailor downstairs to have them hemmed a bit. The shop is run by an Asian family - I would guess Southeast Asia, maybe Laos, Cambodia, or even Indonesia. I take any clothes here that need to be dry cleaned - they always do a great job.

And then there I was in the barbershop this afternoon. I drop in there about once a month for the regular trim. Two Hispanic women work there. They know me well by now and always fit me right in. Although I sometimes find it difficult to understand everything they say to me as they cut my hair, they always treat me well.

I should also mention my favorite pizza joint just downstairs run by an Italian family. Also, there is the Eastern European family who manages the apartment building.

There is so much diversity in this city... and then I go to church. It is odd because despite the heterogeneous mixture of race and nationalities all around me, when I attend church the group is very predominantly - although not exclusively - white.