\u201cBridge and Tunnel people.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat is this?\u201d
\n\u201cThis is what they call us\u2014bridge and tunnel people, like everyone should be able to afford Manhattan.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s status,\u201d S replied. \u201cThe Manhattan people look down on the Queens people, the blacks think the Jews are cheap, the Irish think the blacks are lazy, the hip-hoppers think the punk people are not hip, anybody making over $100,000 a year hates the Democrats, and someday the Natives are going to hate the guys who put up the casinos for taking all their money.\u201d
\n\u201cWe won\u2019t live to see that one,\u201d said M.
\n\u201cThanks be. But I see it every day in the store. They all come in talking about everybody else, like nobody knows as good as them. And like I\u2019m not there at all.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s because you\u2019re bridge and tunnel people. Nobody sees us anyplace. We\u2019re below everybody.\u201d
\n\u201cTake the upper level or the bottom?\u201d
\n\u201cThe top makes better pictures. Don\u2019t you pay attention?\u201d
\n\u201cThis is not about me,\u201d S replied. \u201cThings will happen according to plan, despite my weakness.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere do you get this nonsense? You watch Oprah too much.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a good show. She at least helps people sometimes. Did you leave food for the dogs?\u201d
\n\u201cLots of food,\u201d M assured him.
\n\u201cThe ones from the Towers, they sent out people to their houses to save their dogs. We should have that,\u201d S said.
\n\u201cAre you comparing yourself?\u201d
\n\u201cNo, no, it\u2019s the dogs I\u2019m thinking of.\u201d
\nThe line of cars was stacked up along the approach ramp. Two trucks were moving slowly in adjoining lanes, which held up everyone behind them.
\n\u201cThis is rudeness,\u201d S said. \u201cThey know people are in a hurry.\u201d
\n\u201cYeah\u2014this is New York. Everybody has very important travel plans,\u201d his passenger echoed and they both laughed. \u201cWatch the pothole.\u201d
\n\u201cNo problem at this speed,\u201d S assured him. He was able to steer around it in any case. The van lumbered carrying the weight in the back but he had practiced for a week with sandbags and cinder blocks to simulate it and the handling was pretty much what he expected.
\n\u201cI saw two American girls in the neighborhood wearing burkas,\u201d S said. \u201cYou think this means something?\u201d
\n\u201cThey\u2019ll be wearing them with miniskirts this summer,\u201d M answered. \u201cThey take nothing seriously.\u201d
\n\u201cNothing?\u201d
\n\u201cThey fight a war on terrorism and on the front page of the newspaper for weeks is \u2018Joe Millionaire.\u2019\u201d
\n\u201cThat won\u2019t change, you don\u2019t think?\u201d S asked. M heard the twinge in his voice and recognized a destructive sort of doubt seeping into his driver\u2019s resolve. This could not go unanswered.
\n\u201cI think over time, things must change,\u201d he said. He could see S considering him between glances at the traffic, which was further snarled by an accident ahead. \u201cWhen people are comfortable, they want to stay comfortable. When all the real choices are uncomfortable, they watch television instead. They have to be made uncomfortable so that their minds adjust. Then making a choice becomes a necessity.\u201d
\nS seemed to be considering this, considering it at greater length than M liked.
\n\u201cHow do we know they\u2019ll make the right choice?\u201d he asked.
\nM stifled the temptation\u2014it was strong in him\u2014to squash this altogether. This is the wrong question, he thought, but did not say.
\n\u201cIt is not for us to know the results of our work. The world goes the way the world goes,\u201d he added, thinking this might appeal to S\u2019s Oprah-watching side. \u201cAll we can know is our role.\u201d He smiled. \u201cWe\u2019re bridge and tunnel people, that\u2019s our role.\u201d
\nS laughed, and the tension eased. They passed the accident and now they were climbing the ramp with a small group of cars, heading for the tall bridge towers and the broad roadway over the river. The sun came from behind a cloud and gleamed on the stanchions.
\n\u201cLook at the new Mercedes,\u201d S said, always watching the machines. He wasn\u2019t good for much but he knew his machines.
\n\u201cYeah\u2014see the look he\u2019s giving us,\u201d M added.
\n\u201cBridge and tunnel, that\u2019s what he\u2019s saying,\u201d S said. \u201cWe\u2019re almost there.\u201d
\n\u201cRoll down the window,\u201d M suggested, climbing into the back of the van. \u201cTell him if there\u2019s no bridge, there\u2019s no bridge and tunnel people.\u201d
\nHe mouthed a prayer and bent to push the red button.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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