civilized ku # 190 ~ immersed in the experience
Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 08:47AM 
B&H, Sunday AM ~ NYC • click to embiggenWhile In NYC I visited B&H for some printing supplies.
Because the store is Jewish owned and run, it is closed on Saturdays but open on Sundays. Thinking I might beat the crowds - if there were any in this economic train wreck - I went there on Sunday AM and guess what? The place was jammed.
Sunday morning and the place was jammed. Nevertheless, as per all of my past experiences at B&H, there was little or no waiting, the service was informed, very courteous, and very friendly - I've said it before and I'll say it again - if you're in NYC and you're involved in picture making, go to B&H just for the fun of it.
While I'm the subject, visiting B&H creates a somewhat odd reaction in me. The store's culture is very obviously (and quite positively so) Jewish. Kippahs (skull caps), beards, and the fact that all of the sales staff are men makes me feel that I have arrived in a community with an identity. And what this brings to my mind - like a pavlovian response - is the Amish community in central Ohio in which I use to spend time.
The experience is very insular, especially so considering that one has just stepped into the place from the sidewalks of NYC - a melting pot of ethnic diversity if ever there was one.
If any of you have the opportunity to visit B&H, I be very interested to learn of your reaction to the place.
Reader Comments (1)
Mark, I'm probably of your vintage. I used to hate visiting NY, but things have changed. Last years visit was a pleasure. Part of that pleasure derived from a visit to B&H. Now there was a store that I wish had sofa's and what not so that one could sit in comfort and revel in the atmosphere while tasting your very own buying decisions.