Returning to a Time-Honored Tradition
By John Stewart

On Thursday, Sept 23, I took the two-hour-plus train ride from Wassaic to Grand Central (train was only a little under-populated), ran errands in a Manhattan which looked very normal (denizens hurrying around, tourists strolling annoyingly slowly, a mix of masked and unmasked pedestrians), to happily rejoin, after an 18-month hiatus, Larry Prince’s monthly class luncheon at the Yale Club in NYC. (You do NOT have to be a member!) The Yale Club itself looked under-visited. In NY terms they were quite late in re-establishing dining possibilities.

Although at 12:00 we were the first table seated, by the end of our time there, the place was full. Masks were abandoned at table, but re-donned at departure.

One new attendee was Aaron Etra, to join the frequent habitués. He had the shortest distance to travel, living a mere ten-minute walk away. Over the hour and a half our conversation meandered in many directions: the arts, all of us looking forward to the resumption of live events – opera and Broadway; then expression of irritation at how long it took the club to return to dining. (The food was good as ever, which is pretty good!) We all felt agreement over Yale’s mishandling of the Board of Trustees elections, and we’d all voted for [Victor] Ashe despite a wide variety of political beliefs, and some of us expressed some suspicion about the vote count. We spoke of politics, and expressed widely differing viewpoints, and of course, we talked about how we’re all doing. We shared a sense of dismay at the state of national politics and at the country’s disunity. On the other hand, we seemed to be still enjoying ourselves, discovered, unsurprisingly, that we are all vaccinated. Our chat also included our upcoming travel plans and agreed as a whole that, in general, we’re all ready to resume more active lives. This 18-month curtailment of normalcy is something we’re more than ready to move into the rear-view.

Consider joining us next month!

 
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