In Which Carnys Follow in Obama's Footsteps and Win the Noble Peace Prize

I remember standing on the shore of Lake Managua and thinking, "This place is the absolute end of the Earth." Conversely, I often feel like New York City is the very center. It's diversity is the only thing standing between me and a one-way ticket to South America. A beautiful thing is that you often get to witness people with different backgrounds come together for a common purpose-futile vulgar screaming at subway irregularities, engaging in combat against post office employees, dissing on the landlord.

One of my best examples of this was Halloween of last year when the nineteen-year-old model dressed up as a Greek goddess. The men of the West Village showed unanimous approbation, as she provoked a frenzy of wandering eyes. Several people thought that she was a celebrity and started frantically paparazzi-ing her. My friend and I trailed behind (I was contemplating my less sexy costume as an FLDS polygamist) and as we observed, a universal truth was illuminated-men of every background appreciate a 6 foot tall, scantily clad, nineteen-year old. I never thought that anyone could match that kind of universal appeal, until I spent a few hours in the park today.

Close to my bench, a man tied a tightrope to two trees and blasted music evocative of a 1970's game show. If you look carefully, you can see him performing in the background.



He was an instant hit-Arabs, Jews, Indians, Euros, you name it-everyone wanted a piece of that rope. First, a Rasta family rode by on bikes and the dad asked his daughter if she wanted to try. She responded with an enthusiastic yelp, but she got punked, because her dad continued riding.

Next, an Orthodox Jewish girl gave it a try-



As I am no Talmudic scholar, I have no idea if she is supposed to be holding hands with a hippy.

However, the most enthusiastic carny in training was this Asian guy with shades:



He was so into it that I saw him get the hippy's number and they parted with an embrace (it wasn't a Ryan Seacrest moment though, the hippy had a female counterpart who he would periodically make out with to celebrate a successful crossing).

I think that after this discovery, I have no choice but to ask Hillary Clinton to put a tightrope over the Kashmir.