The Strange Ones

3am It's a Friday night.
We've noticed a trend.
Anna always wants to eat after work.
Anita always wants a drink.

We stop at the 7-Eleven in Times Square.
This nice couple keep the place spotless. For real.
And they tell us numerous times how much they love working there overnight every night.
Maybe they thought we were from corporate.

Anna buys some sort of beef jerky thing.

But she is very very tempted to buy these delicious-looking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with pressed sides.
It's obvious a lot of care was put into making these packaged sandwiches.
Like everything in this 7-Eleven, we decide.


Next stop is Les Enfants Terribles, a sultry bar on the Lower East Side that's full of sweaty ex-pats.
It's the perfect place for us night shift people to hang out. They stay open late and the atmosphere encourages off-kilter behavior.

This is our co-worker Daniel dancing with a woman from Sweden who works for the W hotel.
We goaded her to dance by repeatedly yelling "Go Sweden".
She seemed to like the attention.



This guy kept making us clap our hands in some bizarre rhythm and when we missed a beat, he would throw his arms up in disgust and demand that we start over.
It was making us competitive and nervous.
He said he was European but Sweden spilled the beans when she told us he was actually from Philly.

Almost 5 am.
Anna is sober.


Anita is not.

Night Workers

3:30am
We start walking down 9th Avenue.
These are some of the people we meet.




We asked this guy if he only works his cart at night.
He said, "Yes."
We asked how good business was.
He nodded and said something unintelligible.




This driver also said he only works at night.
3 things we loved about him:
1. his thick Eastern European accent
2. his dapper attire
3. the fact that he offered us a free ride home (we declined)


How many men can pull off a pink turban?

In the first photo, he told Anita a secret.
In the second photo, he copped a feel.

ps only one of these statements is true...which one?


The happiest night worker we've met.

This couple kissed passionately for a full 5 minutes.
It was a sweet sight to see at 5am.

Work

Reality television is decidedly non-reality.
It is a constant struggle to make something dramatic out of everyday moments.



This is the building we work in.
The interior looks like an apartment you would live in when you first move to the city.
We are convinced there is a mold problem because every person on the job has gotten sick.


The street outside isn't much better.


These are our co-workers.
The guy on the right looks very midwestern and conservative, but he says some of the dirtiest things we've ever heard.

5 tips for cutting a reality show:
1. when someone is angry add the sound of thunder under a close-up shot of them
2. when someone has a bright idea use the "small bell" sound effect
3. all scenes should have wall to wall music with gaps for crucial sound bites
4. end each piece of music with a stinger*
5. for a transition between scenes cut a shot to the beat of the music, speed up the first half and slow down the second half

bonus: for those really in the know, fit to fill is your best friend

*a stinger is a decisive musical conclusion, such as a big drum roll

Cab Food

4am We decide to start walking home instead of taking cabs.
It's about a two mile walk: midtown to lower east side.

Anna is hungry.

We stop on 9th Avenue at a Pakistani restaurant that caters to cab drivers.

They also sell music and DVDs in a bullet-proof glass booth.

Checking out the steam table.

The food was pretty good...


But this place is more about the ambiance.
Every time a man enters they go to the corner in the back, take off their shoes, and pray.