February 2, 2024

The Stairs Outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art

On souvenirs

I kept getting annoyed at the people in front of us. Every couple of steps, they would stop to turn for a photo that someone below was ready to take. This happened a handful of times—us weaving around the posed or their dutiful companion, crouched on one knee to get a better shot.

We had walked several blocks from the subway, and it was cold, and I just wanted to get inside. Later, looking at an empty spot on the wall that read on loan at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, I thought, Oh right, I am somewhere different. Before we headed out, back down the stairs and around all the people making a memory out of this one grey winter day, I bought a postcard to prove I was there, too.