Escape from New York and Southwest Airlines

In the 1980s, I repeatedly watched a recorded copy of the film “Escape from New York” on my family’s Panasonic VCR — complete with tuning knobs the size of hubcaps.

Little did I know that I would star in my own version of the movie (as a domesticated, tattoo-less and slightly flabby version of Snake Plissken) on a recent holiday vacation to the Big Apple.

Of course, my family and I chose to travel to New York City during one of the coldest Christmas seasons on record– so cold that even the subway rats were wearing The North Face.