Tropical New York

As an avid Red Sox fan, this pains me to say….New York City is a pretty cool place. Actually, cool is a poor descriptor of my recent visit to the large city south of us.  It was 91 degrees at 8pm on a return walk to my hotel from dinner. I was there for business; Latham Centers is accredited by the Council on Accreditation and this was its’ tri-annual  conference. I think I might have just made up that word—COA hosts their conference every three years.  Latham is committed to the standards of the COA and we believe our programming supports our mission to compassionately and creatively help children and adults with complex special needs, including Prader-Willi Syndrome lead meaningful, abundant lives. Being a child care worker at Latham is still the best job I have ever had.

It was so unbearably hot and humid in NYC that I thought my flip flops were melting to the sidewalks. Yet each service person I came into contact with was friendly and polite. Now, I grew up in the ‘burbs across the river. I am fairly savvy when it comes to dealing with “city” people. I am not sure why I was so unprepared for the civility that was shown me, but I was. From the busboy clearing my table to the chambermaid at the hotel to the Amtrak employee on the train to and from the city; everyone was nice. It made my time there in that miserable heat less of a hassle.

So, thank you to those people doing the really hard jobs: from the waitresses, housekeepers, direct care workers and nurses to the parents, teachers, counselors, mass transit, safety and emergency personnel. To everyone trying their best in trying circumstances. Thank you, it is appreciated.

Submitted by:
Chris Gallant