Always Adaptable

Min Jae Kim can hear the pounding from the restaurant where he works. It goes on all day and sometimes deep into the night.

“It’s from the construction site up the block,” he explains. “Some people complain about the noise, but I actually like it.”

Kim often delivers meals to the workers, but that’s not the reason he has grown attached to the pounding.

“I think it sounds like popping baseball gloves,” he says. “You know that scattered rhythm when a bunch of guys line up and play catch along the outfield foul line? If I close my eyes I can almost see it.”

The other deliverymen standing on Nassau Street poke fun at his vision.

Kim laughs along with them because he knows how to adapt.

“I’m a Korean working at a Chinese restaurant,” Kim says, “but my favorite food is spaghetti and I love those Dominican cigars they make up on Church Street. I can fit in almost anywhere.”

But he feels the most comfortable at Yankee Stadium with his friends.

“They are all from Taiwan,” Kim explains. “We met when they sat in front of me at a game that Chien-Ming Wang pitched. I became a big Wang fan that day.”

He lifts his jacket to show off the Wang T-shirt underneath.

“We are going to Opening Day so I hope he’s pitching,” Kim says. “But it wouldn’t be so bad if we had to go to the second game, too.”

He is always adaptable.