I had this whole plan for writing an in-depth and amusing post yesterday. I was going to do it after a quick dash down to Macys. The dash down went fine. Got down there in good time, found what I wanted without having to hip-check too many people (the joys of going on a weekday in the late morning – the only ones to hip check are the tourists, who are unlikely to hip check back) and then I headed home.

That’s where it all went horribly wrong. I should have taken the subway but the weather was nice so I thought, “I’ll walk over to 3rd and take the bus up.”

The traffic was appalling. It took us ages to move a few blocks. “I’ll get out and walk,” I thought. It was, after all, still good weather and I could widow shop.

What’s this? Barricades? ON the sidewalk? AND across the intersection. What do you MEAN I can’t cross the street? Damn, this is all feeling terribly familiar. And why?

Ha! It’s UN General Assembly Week and little did I know that at a time when normal people would be moving around, fetching lunch and going about their business – the NYPD (and presumably the Secret Service) declared a frozen zone (no vehicles moving, and no pedestrians going north-south) in midtown. Why? Because the president was moving from the UN to – well, somewhere else. His hotel, presumably.

Yes, I’ve been here before. The last time (when Clinton was in town for the 50th Anniversary of the UN), things got a bit tetchy between me and an individual with a thing in his ear. I decided that this time, I would just wait it out. No need to add another sheet to what I am sure is “my file.”

I amused myself by watching person after person try to wheedle through the barriers, explain that they “just have to get to XYZ,” or “they’ll go really fast,” or asked, “why can’t THEY cross” with a disdainful look at the rest of us. The best was the woman who jogged up to the cops at the barricades and tried to negotiate continuing her north-south run. She jogged in place during the whole conversation and only took one earplug out.

I got home eventually – on foot since traffic was still appalling, the frozen zone being cancelled just in time for rush hour – but was in no mood to write. I don’t even recall what I was going to write now.