Where Have They Been Hiding?

I've lived in the city for over five years now and when you live and work in a place as bustling and diverse as New York, you tend to see a myriad of people. But one thing I've never really seen before is children. Oh sure, on the weekends you see teenagers playing basketball in the park or young families at brunch. Or at lunch-time you see small kids being strolled by differently shaded nannies, especially here on the UES. But I've never really seen any schoolchildren. You know, pre-teen to teen, hang out at mall, text each other on their Sidekicks kind of schoolchildren. I always knew in the back of mind that they must exist somewhere, just like you know, way deep down, that every time you watch American Idol, Randy is going to look more like a woman than he did in the previous episode until one day the horrible secret will be revealed that he's really Star Jones and you go "Aha! I just knew it!" You know, that kind of nagging suspicion that it is impossible for this city to be inhabited only by multi-ethnic adults and Aryan toddlers. So where are these pre-teens? And do they ever show themselves? I mean, I have seen Kids, so they must be somewhere.

Well I found them. Apparently they only come out in the wee hours of the morning, before I usually get out of bed. And they all travel via the Second Ave bus.