Date Night

It is date night, and for our special night of the week I took Pumpkin to see "Transformers" on the IMAX screen. Show time was 7:00. We arrived at 6:45. The show was sold out. Not only that, even the 10:40 show was already sold out.

What?

This is Rochester, not Manhattan. In Manhattan they sell out showings of movies. This doesn't happen in Rochester. Ever.

IMAX is a wonderful thing. It appears in Rochester, it is a rare thing.

So, instead of seeing "Transformers", we saw "The Proposal". In this movie, a couple gets married to avoid deportation. There is no similarity between this plot and Pumpkin's and my relationship. Really. I'm serious.

Date night is important to me. What is ironic is that date night is not any different in Rochester than it is in Manhattan. We have dinner. We go a movie. We get desert. I'm not a creative person.

In Manhattan we usually go to the AMC 25 or the Regal 13. These are across the street from each other on 42nd Street. The most direct way for us to get there is to walk through Times Square. Usually that is hard to do, as there are a lot of tourists on the sidewalks, going to and from the theaters (i.e. Wicked, Jersey Boys, Mama Mia, etc.). Now though, it is different. Instead of not being able to move at a reasonable pace on the sidewalk, we are not able to walk at a reasonable pace in the middle of the street.

Mayor Bloomberg has turned Broadway, from 47th street to 42nd street, into a pedestrian mall. What a great idea. Now, instead of moving on the sidewalks at a pace that would drive any New Yorker completely bonkers, tourists are standing still on the sidewalk, taking pictures of each other, with billboards in the background.

Pumpkin and I walk over to eighth avenue. It is a longer route, and the stationary tourists still annoy me, but it is faster.

The movie itself is always a lot of fun, as New York audiences tend to get into the show. There is a lot of talking back to the screen.

After the movie we go to Stone Cold Creamary, which neither of us need.

A lot of people tell me that they could never live in New York City. It is too crowded. It is too dirty. It is too expensive. Really, it isn't that much different than living anyplace else. Date night is date night where ever you go. The biggest difference is how you get to the movie.