Playing safe

After dinner we wandered out for a nighttime stroll. It was late in the evening, and the streets were relatively quiet - a rare moment in New York. We wandered down Hammarskjold promenade (looks like las Ramblas in Barcelona, we commented) towards the UN building, absorbing the peaceful stillness of the night air. We paused in front of the UN building, observing the large stone monument situated in front, right in the middle of First Ave. Four tall rock columns side by side - natural, and yet somehow artistic; almost obelisks, and yet not quite.

When suddenly, something caught our eye. A shiny brown leather briefcase, sitting right there on the floor beside the pillars, right in the middle of First Ave. It would probably have stood out at the best of times, but placed right there, with no one around, in front of the UN building, was decidedly incongruous.

We glanced at eachother in discomfitted suspicion. It was too much of a stereotypical threat to be just ignored. There was no one about, save a couple walking their dog a few blocks away. No cops to speak of. Of course, my mind was exploding with images of bomb blasts. What should we do? The chance of it actually being a threat was negligible. Still... Ignore it? Look for a cop?

Finally, we called 911. Right there, in the middle of Hammarskjold promenade, in the middle of the night. "Sorry, but there's a briefcase right by the monument in front of the UN building. [Pause]. No, there's nobody around. [Pause]. Yes, in the middle of First Ave, right by 47th and First."
"Thank you for reporting it, we'll have it looked into right away."

We left shortly after that. There's not too much allure to hanging out by a suspicious briefcase in front of the UN building. I wonder if they did get someone to investigate it. I wonder what they found. I'm just glad I didn't hear an explosion later in the night.