Brooklyn Archipelago
I listen to a lot of spoken words: Audiobooks, Podcasts and various radio shows. I am a big fan of the Public Radio Networks (PRX) and its various affiliates (https://www.prx.org/). Sometimes I hear a story that is so striking and original, it keeps a permanent impression on me. This American Life is one of my favorite shows, and I have written about it before. The reason these stories are so strikingly beautiful because lately in the conventional news media, I mostly hear opinions and not real stories, real journalism. I miss it. So I turn on my radio, and listen to NPR. Yesterday, I listened to a story from the This American Life podcast that is stunning. The whole podcase is here:
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/628/in-the-shadow-of-the-city
I like adventure in known but unexpected places. I also have a lot of respect for people who are much younger than me, kids, teenagers, folks in their 20s. I think they understand and enjoy life much better than I do, and therefore are wiser than old man like me. There are three 'acts' stories on this particular episode but I am only going to talk about Alex Zharov!
My name is Alex Zharov, and I love to have very radical experiences in life.
He says about himself. He is 17 year old, an immigrant Russian Kid living in Brooklyn. As a borough of NYC, at the shadow of the JFK airport, its backwater, the Jamaica Bay, is probably one of the most urban place you can imagine in the United States. But is it? Clearly not for Alex.
What Alex and a few friends did was to 'sail' on a friend Roman's boat, got a few gallons of gas from the marina, a bottle of rum (or cognac, it varies on who you ask), gathers a few more friends (three total) and a few can's of food, and start sailing. Alex said that they will sail to Poland! Don't ask me how!! But some others, like Roman, the real sailor, thought that they would just go for a joyride for 40 min at Jamaica bay. Back in no time!!
But they lost the 'captain' Roman almost immediately. At the Marina, Roman got drunk, and fell into the water! Alex and Alex (the other friend is called Alex too) got Roman out of the water, but is in no state to pilot the boat! :) So Alex Zharov, our hero, said, he will do it. Its not hard or anything, there is a wheel and a throttle that's about it (he didn't worry about brake or navigation any of that stuff).
Soon they are out into the water and soon they crashed into a small island. They were stuck. They had no idea of time. No cellphone (it fell in the water!). It got dark soon. They ate, finished their rum and yeah, fell asleep :)
When they woke up the following day, it was bright and beutiful morning, but overnight their boat got drifted inland by the tide and now stuck in the mud. They can see the boats far away, they can see the city, they can see JFK airport and planes taking off and landing. But they are stuck, moored, in a city! One of the largest cities of the planet.
So What?
What happened next is quite fascinating and I don't like to describe it, you must listen to it yourself. But what interests me on this story is the fact that anything is possible when you are a teenager. You don't have any barrier of thinking. The ideal care-free life, and yes it is possible in a big city as much as it is possible in the wild west. It is the ability to get lost, to do strange but interesting things for curiosity alone is what makes a younger person respectable to me. I can easily say, the Duckman, Alex Zharov is my hero!