Times Square seems sparsely attended on this particular Friday evening -- looks like just the few straggling groups left over after a parade or something has ended -- usually it resembles a mighty river, a confluence of rivers, a Niagara Falls of humanity.

This particular McDonald's was a very welcome addition to the Square, quite a few years ago now -- open 24 hours, it seemed a "safe haven" from which to observe the madness, particularly from this row of seats on the second floor -- the one the Rube was sitting at can be seen at the far right of 3-jpg. But also just to have a seat from which to linger and observe, rather than on the street where you would be like the leaf clump blocking the water water flow.

The other great thing about McDonald's, at least to the younger Rube and his companions, coming in from New Jersey, was that everything in New York seemed laughably expensive, except for McDonald's, which although a little bit higher-priced than those at home, was still quite reasonable.