The first time I was in New York City was in 1944. My army unit was at Ft. Dix, N.J., waiting to get on a ship for Europe. I had decided to go into the big city. At this point in my life, I was just a country boy from Minnesota. I had absolutely no idea what life was like in a big city. I had never been on a subway. I had never even been in a taxi. Well, I did both. The subway was OK, but not so with the taxi. It scared me the way this wild maniac was driving through the traffic. I decided that New York City residents must be a bunch of barbarians to put up with these crazy drivers. I vowed never, ever to go back there again.

Now, after 66 years, I did go there again. It was for a special occasion for my 18-year-old granddaughter, Claire Kretzschmar, who was performing as the principal ballerina at a theater in Lincoln Center on June 5.

I have changed my mind about the taxicabs and I apologize for all the nasty things I have been saying about people who live in New York. Now I am impressed by the skill of the cab drivers as they maneuver through all the heavy traffic.

But I am still not going back to New York very soon. I can’t afford it. Two nights in a hotel: $789.

By the way, Claire’s mother is Mary Thoennes who is a graduate of Decatur High School, class of 1979.

Leo J. Thoennes, Federal Way