ONE IS GOLD AND…THE OTHER IS ALSO GOLD

New friends were made. A new sandwich place was investigated. Old friends meeting older friends, in both senses of old and older, further and farther from each other and from our births. Made closer through introductions, mutual interest in sandwiches, the beauty of longevity, proximity made tangible through train tracks, and a desire to mash our worlds together for a sunshiny New York afternoon.

Up on the east side, Lexington Candy Shop, has not enrolled in “How to Be Known to All” from the Universal-ity of Disney. The line out the door was long. And needed a manager, who was present, friendly and imposing, long apron wrapped majestically around his in-charge frame. We waited. While we waited we could see in. Candy we did not see. Milkshakes, burgers, pink formica table-tops, cozy booths occupied by hipsters in the know and non-hipsters in the know-more, a sacred place. We could see it. We waited silently.

Silent we were not, once seated. Heart pounding with gratitude for MMSMINY, JAF, (my main sandwich man in New York, James Farber) for bringing us there. He is kind of a sleeper, seems so unassuming and then…!KAPOW!…knows all the spots.

Turkey on rye with slaw and Russian. Come onnnnnn. Not an actual Rachel but Rachel-like in a most delicious way. Pickles, tuna melt, cheese burger, egg creams. Egg creams. So good. Now. In these times. Now. So good.

We all, new friends and old, silver and gold, loved it. We all want a Lexington Candy Shop within walking distance. Not to revisit the past, not to wax nostalgic, not to opine, recline in other times or decline to define. We want it now. In these times. Currently. It is current. It is now. To us, new. To you, too.

Website for Lexington Candy Shop…hmmm… on the site this formidable sandwich mecca is painted as a relic, using words such as “bygone era” and “time warp”. A relic it is not. Not to preach – I am bad at in anyway – just to say… old places, old friends, the places/people/things that carry us, pull us, thread us together through time, highlight the present, shine light on it, make our days more real, more illuminated. Sheesh. Come onnnn. Carry me forward, further, older, old, new and newer, carry us on.