After reading Allen Ginsberg’s Mugging, it was quite hard for me to decipher what exactly was going on. It first started off with this fast paced routine, where Ginsberg listed everything he saw on his way, everything from the “Coca Cola & Mylai posters” to “E. 10th’s glass splattered pavement.” Although some references are a bit obscure to me, as we are from completely different generations, I still get what he is saying. I too, have a daily routine where I see a lot of the same people and places. And it’s kind of weird to think of these strangers as familiar faces. I always see the same group of people waiting at the “watch the gap” sign on the LIRR platform every day at 5:11 p.m. They are always in the same exact spot, not exactly on the “watch the gap sign,” because well, after taking the train so often, they know that this specific train’s doors don’t line up with the platform markings-rather a few inches over. And then there was this blonde lady who I saw every single monday morning last semester at 7:30 a.m on the dot at the NQR. And who could forget the guy saying “new york times” in that croaky voice, with a fresh newspaper in his hand, ready to be given to rushing New Yorkers every single day. And it’s crazy to me because every time I pass him by he is saying the same exact thing. No wonder his voice is all croaky.
Anyways…
After Ginsberg sets up his routine, he encounters these boys who mug him. I found this part of the text to be really interesting because afterwards he just walks away as if nothing happened, continuing his day. He does acknowledge was just happened when he says “I just got mugged,” but when he says that it isn’t out of self-pity or showing anger. To me it sounds like “okay..I just got mugged..well how’s that for New York?” He acknowledges it so nonchalantly as if it’s a normal daily occurrence or as if it was something that is bound to happen. I see myself fall into these nonchalant moments where I brush off something so absurd. The Naked Cowboy is one prime example. I bet foreigners just think “what the heck?…get out the camera Harriet,” while a native would think “oh there goes the Naked Cowboy again….now enough with the guitar I’m getting a migraine.” It’s kind of the same when I see the Super Man panhandler who hands out balloon hearts or those kids that always breakdance in the subway. At first it was a big deal, but now it’s “whatever.”
