Undergrounds

Every city of any size has its underground music scene. London has its Underground; we have the MTA in New York. But fall out of health and you find a whole new underground -- medical supply stores, places that when fully healthy and walking along the street, I never noticed or, if I did, gave them a glance and passed, losing the memory of them less than half a block on. Since getting the prescription from Dr. B., however, for what are delicately called "medical legwear," I got to enter a whole new underground with shelves stacked with items to restore health or cope with managing every kind of sickness. Who knew? Waiting to be fitted for my medical legwear, I sat in front of a display of inhalers, and the picture on the side of one box looked a dead ringer for our first grandchild, who for a couple of years had to use an inhaler frequently. In this array of newness I couldn't keep from wondering just how many more undergrounds exist for specialized segments of NYC's population