it

So, I stepped out of the office here on 46th Street to drop into the downstairs deli and buy some trail mix. It was about that time of day when my belly grumbled at me with common annoyance. Once outside, what to my wondering eyes did appear? A "hip logo t-shirt dude" astride "It." What is "It?" It is a Segway. The gizmo was known solely as "It" during its clandestine development and production stage a few years ago. And when "It" was finally unveiled to a kind-of-bewildered public, nearly everyone seemed generally underwhelmed. People shrugged, yawned, and life went on.


How does one act when confronted with an "It"? Well, in my case, I slowed my pace and stared at the spectacle with bemusement and mirth. It seemed the Segway dude was a "group leader" in some sort of "cool camp counselor in the city" manner as he was surrounded by a gaggle of perhaps a dozen chattering teenagers. From his mount he sermonized them with their schedule and walking directions. Of course, he was not walking. He was the leader. And he stood tall and proud (and geeky and alone) raised above the rabble on his heteromorphic mode of transport.

And on that zany metal contraption, he performed an awkward k-turn and proceeded to motor ahead of his charges. The herd of kids milled and followed behind their idiosyncratic Segway Pied Piper as he took them toward Broadway and beyond.

I returned to the office, poured a cup of water from the cooler, opened up the trail mix, and wrote this. Something seems so absurd and pointless about a Segway in the city. In my mind, it fits in much better within the sprawl of suburbia. The Segway is almost as silly as having trail mix for lunch.