Erin Wilson is a singer/dancer/actor currently on the road with Wicked. In addition to acting she maintains her blog “People Places Things” and works freelance as a make-up artist. Originally from Southern California, Erin attended Brigham Young University and lives in NYC .
I HEART NYC
By Erin Wilson
I moved to NYC back in 2003 (well, I first moved to NYC in 2001 the summer before 9-11 and ended up moving home 2 weeks before the tragic event….but that’s another story). I was one of those “pack my bags and move to the big city to become an actress” sort of gals. And it has pretty much worked out for me so far. I’m currently away from my beloved city touring with Wicked and I go home every few months just so it hurts a little more each time I have to leave.
I have been fortunate to live in quite a few major neighborhoods in the city: Hudson Heights (love, but a bit of a train ride), Upper East Side (love, but my life is on the west side and that cross town bus gets crowded), The Village (so great, but small digs), Upper West Side (my home), Mid-town (yuck…don’t like it), Financial District (fab apartments, gets quiet in the evenings, too far away from my favorite UWS haunts). So yeah, I guess you could say I am partial to the UWS. It just fits with me….family friendly, close to the temple, great restaurants and bakeries, decent shopping, Central and Riversie Park, the 1, 2, 3 trains, oh I could go on and on….
But, my love for the city can best be told through one of my favorite experiences….
I was struggling through audition after audition one winter and was starting to get really down trodden. I mean, I was getting lots of callbacks but they would ultimately decide to go with someone else. It was heart wrenching to begin to doubt if my dreams would ever come true and all of my hard work would pay off. I mean, it had to right? Well, one day I walked out of a pretty difficult audition having just got cut after hours of giving it and then some. I wanted this one bad and it would finally mean that I would make my Broadway debut. I was so defeated. I just wanted to call my mom and cry (something that happened way too much during these years, thanks mom!).
I stepped out onto 8th Ave and started the long walk home.
Within a few blocks I felt something wet on my hair and face. My first thought was that someone was pouring water or something out of a window and down to the street. But, after instinctively touching my hair to see what the mysterious liquid was I realized that a bird (probably a stupid pigeon) had pooped on my head. Could this day get worse? I mean, was the universe telling me to just pack up and go home? I stood there for a second in shock while people gave me the stank face and giggling to themselves. I wanted to giggle, but the day just didn’t deserve it so I groaned to myself and stepped into a small corner bodega.
The Middle Eastern men in the shop just stared at me. They said nothing as I asked for a napkin to wipe off the bird excrement from my face. Silence and stares. I asked again and yep, no response. Finally the owner, I presumed, said “Miss you have something on your face.” Um, yeah…I know. I asked for a napkin again and the owner hesitantly reached for a one-ply 3×5 inch napkin. He stated that I really needed to purchase something first. I loudly exclaimed “Are you kidding me? I have bird poop on my face! Can I please have the napkin?!?” He handed me the sad little napkin and I started to wipe it off my face. It was so not enough tissue to help the issue so I grunted in frustration and the owner called me over. He grabbed some more napkins and started to wipe it from my face and hair while I sat there humiliated. He even poured a little water on my hair to help the now encrusted poop slip out while he wiped. I thanked him and walked silently out the door. DEFEAT.
A bad day had turned into an EPICALLY bad day. But, the city is like the giving tree. You go around and around with her and she finds a way to bless you in return in the most unexpected moments. I mean, how many days have I mixed with rude and selfish people, muggy soup-like weather, torrential rain when you don’t have an umbrella and are carrying home a ridiculous amount of groceries (and the bag breaks), a million and one stairs, late trains, gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe, a bus that suddenly flashes the “Not in Service” sign after you’ve waited for what seems like an hour, one broken flip-flop in the middle of the park, blisters from breaking in new boots, throwing up on the train from food poisoning on your birthday, tripping and falling on the dirty sidewalk, and being splashed with sludge from a speeding cab to only be returned with a day of GLORIOUS weather, kind people who return a forgotten purchase on the counter, on time public transportation, no traffic, free tickets, someone’s plus one to a fab opening, smiles and songs from strangers, an amazing find that is 50% off, seeing that Trader Joes is opening in your neighborhood, endless available cabs, and running into your favorite person on the street?
That day I had been handed the worst, but my long trek home proved NYC to be a glorious place. I hopped onto a train and walked into the Shake Shack (my favorite burger in the world) to the front of the line. I eased my wounds with a burger, a cookie from Levain bakery (beyond amazing), a $20 mani/pedi, and ran into one of my best friends in the world. I went to see a movie (my favorite) and laughed and laughed later that night with friends. See, NYC is not for the faint of heart but if you give her a chance she’ll give you blissful days and opportunities galore. I truly HEART NYC.
*Note from blog administrator: Erin wished to have the heart symbol in place of the word heart, but this BA here is not savvy enough for that. For more of Erin’s savviness, visit her here and her tweets here.
