Happy Ash Wednesday!

I know Ash Wednesday is a solemn occasion for my Christian friends, but to me, its my favorite New York City holiday. Unfortunately I read a blurb in the paper yesterday citing that alternate side parking has been suspended today due to Ash Wednesday. Its a shame because the specialist part of the day is the 10 minutes it takes you to recall why the heck all these people have dirt on their foreheads. I usually have to walk by a minimum of 17 people before the thought occurs to me that they purposely had the ash placed there. Its hard for a nice Jewish girl to fathom getting dirty on purpose. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and always takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday. During Lent devout Christians usually choose to give up something that they usually do, like eating meat on Fridays. Jews would never choose to give up anything. Not being able to eat bread for a week during Passover is a huge affliction in my book and not something I would willingly take on. To all you Christians out there...RESPEK!!! If you need me, I'll be spending my lunch hour sitting outside the church on 37th and Broadway in awe of the revelers receiving their ashes. Mad props.