Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 466

"It’s important to be open."“Open to...

"It’s important to be open."

“Open to what?”

“Changes in your life, mainly. I’ve always been a planner. So it’s very difficult for me to handle things that don’t go as planned. But I’m learning to accept that unplanned events— even negative ones, can lead to positive changes.”

“What happened that you weren’t planning for?”

“Well, I didn’t marry the man I thought I was going to marry.”

“Why not?”

“He cheated and had a kid. We had a house and everything. But you know what? That horrible event created a domino effect that brought me to New York, and introduced me to a new life, and a new group of friends that I never would have known otherwise.”

Seen on 5th Avenue

Seen on 5th Avenue

"We hiked up a mountain and slept in a cabin for Cub...

"We hiked up a mountain and slept in a cabin for Cub Scouts."

“What’s one thing you learned in Cub Scouts that you think everyone should know?”

“You have to be brave and do your duty to get a Tiger Badge.”

"New York kicked my ass."

"New York kicked my ass."

"They say that you’re supposed to stand up to bullies, but...

"They say that you’re supposed to stand up to bullies, but there’s not much you can do when the whole class is like that."

“Why do they make fun of you?”

“Let’s see. My weight, obviously. The fact that I read for fun. Mostly sci-fi and fantasy. I watch Nova. I don’t like sports. You know those loud, obnoxious kids you see hanging out in groups, screaming at people? That’s my whole school.”

“So what do they do to you?”

“Just yell at me and throw stuff at me. But I am proud of one thing. Most kids who get picked on completely spaz out at some point, and get violent. That hasn’t happened to me yet.”

I was leaving a diner on the west side when I noticed this woman...

I was leaving a diner on the west side when I noticed this woman crouched alongside the cash register, clutching some sort of electronic reindeer toy.

“Why are you hiding?” I asked.

“I’ve been coming here for 27 years,” she said. “The manager doesn’t like my singing animals. So I like to haunt him!”

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"“Taller!”

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

“Taller!”

"I’m tripping out."

"I’m tripping out."

"My girlfriend and I were friends for a long time before we...

"My girlfriend and I were friends for a long time before we started dating."

“What’s the toughest part of that kind of relationship?”

“Probably just starting it. Most relationships just start out fast and go. When you start dating a friend, you basically have to sit down one day and talk about logistics.”

"My swim coach outed me to my entire team in...

"My swim coach outed me to my entire team in college."

“What happened?”

“It was freshman year. I hadn’t come out to my dad yet. I’d come out to my mom, but it didn’t go well. Then one day my swim coach came up to me at a meet, and said: ‘There’s something I want you to tell me before the meet is over. And I think you know what it is.’ So I told him. And he said: ‘I don’t want things to get weird in the locker room, so let’s keep this between us.’ Then I went home, took a nap, and when I woke up, I had an email from another person on the team. He told me the coach had called a team meeting and told everyone.”

“What happened?”

“I called the coach, and he immediately started yelling at me. He was saying things, like ‘It’s my team. Don’t tell me how to run my team.’ He was really intense. He was like The Coach in New England swimming at the time. I kept trying to get off the phone, but he kept screaming at me. Then when I finally got off the phone, he showed up on my doorstep. He made me tell him who told me about the meeting. Then he made me get in the car with him, drove me to my teammate’s house, and started yelling at both of us. He started accusing us of being lovers.”

“Jesus.”

“I know. I quit swimming after that year, and never swam again.”