Heroes

The word hero has been thrown around an awful lot. Not just lately, for as long as I can remember. I think I really started to take notice on September 11th, 2001. Since that day I can't think of a day that has gone through a 24 hour cycle which has not included some reference to a new hero.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines hero, rather loosely in my opinion, as: 1d: one that shows great courage. This causes me to sit back and think a little about what a hero means to me. Perhaps it'll help to illustrate where my mind was going by using examples of heroism I've read:

• A soldier who throws himself on a grenade in order to save the lives of those around him with obvious disregard for his own personal welfare
• A stranger who helps to dislodge a person's foot from a railroad track while a train barrels down. The train struck, and killed, all involved. The stranger made no attempt to save his own life, instead surrendering it in the hopes of freeing the trapped person
  
• A person who hears the screams for help from a woman being recklessly beaten and comes to the rescue, foregoing his own personal safety to prevent further bodily injury to the stranger
• A person, witnessing a car crashing into a body of water, dives into the frigid lake to rescue the passengers paying no mind to the risks involved

And, as a general rule, often-referred heroes and to whom I do not believe the tag applies:

• Soldiers
• Police officers
• Firefighters
• Animals

You may notice a slight recurring theme in my examples of heroism: they are humans who have made the decision to disregard their own safety, or in some cases knowingly surrender their own lives, for the lives of others. I tend to find the stories inspirational and often I'm left with goosebumps after considering what an amazing person it takes to do such a thing.

While I'm not a religious man by any means, I find this quote to be spot-on when describing a hero: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" - John 15:13. Although I give a broader meaning to friends and apply it universally to all people.

Why exclude who I have, you ask? Well, as a general rule, if you have put yourself into a position to daily risk your life for others, you've made the choice to take on a dangerous profession. Good for you. So it'll take a bit more than stopping a drunk driver or shooting the bad guy to make me label you a hero. It'll pretty much take a sacrifice to qualify...or at least something where they had accepted that this meant death to them and they did it anyway, just to save someone else.

But why exclude animals? Well, by my thinking, you have to be aware of your own mortality before you can willingly put it on the table. Oh, I've read stories of heroism by dogs that have given me goosebumps and damn near had me weeping like a babe. But it's not like the dog was thinking it could die...more like "who the hell is going to feed me steak if I don't get my family out". Although I may need to revise my definition for this.

Boy scouts who, after a tornado, applied first aid to other injured boy scouts? Quick thinking and nice job applying the skills you just learned. Heroes? Not likely. Marine gunner who kills 104 Iraqi insurgents in combat? Good shooting, Tex. Hero? Doubtful. Man who acts as insulation during a blizzard on Mt. Rainier, taking the worst of the cold so his best friend and wife could survive? He died so 2 others could live. Yeah, he's a hero.

Something I haven't thought much about with this hero label is where inspirational folks fall it. People like Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Jefferson, Mahatma Ghandi, and others. I'm not sure I'd have to revise my line of thinking, they probably all knowingly risked, or surrendered, their own safety and security for the lives of others.

Hero: A person who knowingly, and willingly, places his or her life or safety at exceptional risk to preserve the life or safety of another.

Day 3: NYC

Started out the day by stepping out of the hotel and heading directly into Central Park. Our hotel was 2 blocks from the park, making it quite easy. The weather was a bit overcast with a 40% chance of rain, so we carried along our rainproof jackets and our umbrella. Once we came out the other side of the park (Upper West Side) it started to rain on us. Our aim this morning was a little cafe called Sarabeth's West, reported to have a good brunch. Upon finding the cafe, we were told the wait was 30-45 minutes. This area of town has a phenomenal number of wonderful brunch spots so we headed south a couple minutes to another cafe called Nice-Matin. Very tasty and very open for seating ;).

After getting our morning grub on, we headed to a little bakery we saw on Food Network called Levain Bakery and picked up a couple cookies (unbelievable...like a half-pound each!). From there we headed back into the park to meet up with a dentist friend, and her family, of Melissa's who had just moved out here to Brooklyn from Tri-Cities. The rain continued as we perused the small zoo in Central Park. Their little 2 year old son was so excited to see all the animals, especially the monkeys. Probably because that kid was definitely a monkey!

After we bid them good day, we walked up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What an amazing place. There is no way to cover even half the content in that place if you were given a whole day to look. We spent around 3 hours wandering around the exhibits we wanted to see and we didn't even come close to covering them all, nor all the content within those. Very cool.

After our adventures in the Met, we headed back to our hotel to prepare for dinner that evening. We grabbed a cab down to the meatpacking district of Manhattan and was promptly seated at our dinner destination STK. We ate a multitude of cuisines for the evening, including foie gras, seafood sampler - with oysters, raw tuna, crab, and shrimp, and fried potatoes with parmesan and truffle oil, and asparagus. Individually Melissa had the loin strip with an herb mixture dipping sauce and I had a bone-in rib eye covered with black truffles and the STK house dipping sauce. For dessert? Watermelon cotton candy with homemade marshmallows. To wash it all down we had a bottle of pinot noir and a meritage blend.

After the dinner we moved on to Larry Flynt's Hustler Club for some adult entertainment. Nothing to see here. ;)

We made it back to the hotel around 4:30 in the AM...

Day 1-2: NYC

We arrived in Newark Airport right on time (11:30PM local time). We gathered up our single checked bag and took a taxi ($76) to our hotel in the Upper East Side. We got in around 12:30AM so decided to go ahead and unpack and call it a night.

We woke up the next morning (7/4, USA! USA!) at around 10AM. Performed the 3 S's, packed lightly for our day and headed out to the 59th street (and Lexington) train stop. Hopped on the 4 train to Yankee Stadium. Apparently the rest of New York was also going to the game because it was shoulder-to-shoulder standing room only. Very exciting.

We wandered around the stadium, took some nice photos and got a feel for the land. Trying to go into the game we were stopped by the 'security' because our camera bag had a shoulder strap qualifying it as a 'backpack'. Fuck. So we had to go check our bag at a nearby bowling alley for $5. better than losing our $100 bag I guess. So we carried in the D40 and extra 200mm lens in a clear plastic bag (gayness). The weather was quite pleasant if overcast. Probably about 83F and slightly humid (65%).

Our seats for the game were slightly to the 3rd base side of right behind home plate, way up in the cheap seats. We actually had a really excellent view of the game and had a really great time...until the skies opened up. We had very steady rain fall right at the end of the 7th inning. The attendees that were not under an overhang scattered like cockroaches when the light comes on, seeking some shelter. Many of us pulled out waterproof jackets/parkas and umbrellas. The game continued during the drizzle and the grounds crew came out after the 7th inning and dropped probably 20 bags of quick-dry. The 8th inning started, but was quickly delayed once Alex Rodriguez made a throwing error from 3rd. CONSPIRACY. The game was on delay so we sorta hung out for a little while. The rain was not letting up so around 5:30PM we finally bailed on the game (it started at 1:05!).

We took the train back to the hotel and freshened up, then headed immediately back out to meet up with our friends in Brooklyn. We met up with them at Brighton Beach on the boardwalk, and grabbed ourselves a table at Tatiana's (Russian restaurant) overlooking the water. Good company and good food followed. From what I can recall, we ate: A house salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, lettuce), a Rockefeller salad (spinach, mozzarella, blue cheese, tomatoes), escargot, smoked herring (quite salty) with boiled potatoes, borscht, mozzarella mushrooms, chicken Kiev (with a handle!), baked sole, and Russian crepes. Unbelievable. I'll attach some photos as soon as I have enough time (not now, bitches).

Afterward we went to our friend's place right across from Astroland on Coney Island and hung out for a bit (in the ghetto ;)). Afterward we took a car service the long way back from Brooklyn to the hotel, got in around 1:30AM and in bed shortly thereafter.

Today the plan is to go grab some lovely brunch, go to a museum or two, take a stroll through Central Park and then come back to prepare for our 9PM dinner reservation at STK. Peace.