{"id":77544,"date":"2014-10-01T16:17:31","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T20:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=77544"},"modified":"2014-10-01T16:17:31","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T20:17:31","slug":"crossroads-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/01\/crossroads-of-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Crossroads of the World"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Times_Square_Ball_from_above\"<\/a>

Times Square from above. Photo: Anthony Quintano, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

In Times Square, surrounded by embattled Elmos and superheroes, several of us stopped at the crosswalk to wait for the light to change. The blue font on the overhead news ticker looked so cartoonish, so sort of jolly, that it took a moment for the words\u2019 discordant meaning to sink in.<\/p>\n

It read:\u00a0THREE WOMEN BEHEADED BY ISIS IN SYRIA.<\/small><\/p>\n

I stood and stared in horror; next to me was a very old man bent nearly double by kyphosis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas it you?\u201d came a voice. I looked down; there was a guy in a tweed flat cap. \u201cWas it you?\u201d he said again, to the old man. The old man looked up at him in uncomprehending irritation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you do it?\u201d the guy in the cap persisted, indicating the circling words above us.<\/p>\n

The light changed then and, without acknowledging him, the older man began his laborious navigation of the crosswalk. Over his head, Tweed Cap gave me a broad wink. I looked away as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Times Square, surrounded by embattled Elmos and superheroes, several of us stopped at the crosswalk to wait for the light to change. The blue font on the overhead news ticker looked so cartoonish, so sort of jolly, that it took a moment for the words\u2019 discordant meaning to sink in. It read:\u00a0THREE WOMEN BEHEADED […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[12511,158,15493,125,15494,15169,5859],"class_list":["post-77544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-city-life","tag-encounters","tag-isis","tag-new-york-city","tag-news-tickers","tag-strangers","tag-times-square"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCrossroads of the World by Sadie Stein<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"October 1, 2014 \u2013 In Times Square, surrounded by embattled Elmos and superheroes, several of us stopped at the crosswalk to wait for the light to change. 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