Now and then, you find yourself thinking the worst of people, viewing the world through a dark prism. That’s where MARY KARR found herself, until she was graced with an act of simple, unexpected generosity that changed her perspective links of london, permanently.
One night shortly after Thanksgiving last year, a deeply crummy mind-set I’d taken on went though an instantaneous reversal. As if a magician had said Links of London Charms, “Presto,” the New York City landscape likewise flipped from seedy to radiant. The shift proved that the city I move through every day (often with narrowed eyes and clenched jaw) is partly a projection of my self-centered fears. With an attitude adjustment Links of London Necklaces, I came to see that a dark world can become floodlit in a heartbeat.
I had been in upstate New York. Bad flying weather had nudged me to take the bus back to the city from Syracuse University, where I teach during the week. I hadn’t boarded a Greyhound since my surf-bum youth, back when the seats still sported ashtrays. Lugging my computer bag and suitcase down the aisle that snowy day, I felt stared at, like an outsider, which, honestly, stung more than it should have.
A few stops out, a gray-haired lady and a girl about five years old slid into the row in front of me. Though the woman’s bun was springing scraggles at the hairline, the girl’s tight braids must have taken a full day to do. She had a round pudding face with curious eyes. As I marked papers with a pen, her chin rested on the seat top before me Links of London Bracelets. “School-teachers are supposed to use a red pencil,” she said.