My eyes are fresh, and therefore most people will dismiss my thoughts as naivety. The truth is though, that I see things in this city. My ‘naivety’ enables me to notice occurrences that most overlook. New Yorkers are ridiculously skilled at blocking the noise out, and although I am trained as well, I consciously try to see more. Ignoring has become a nasty habit, it causes us to miss out on what NYC really has to offer. We have become snobs and have set standards on which people to walk by and for which to feel something for.
- I love this city for its complete inappropriate nature. The fact that most women feel like a “10” walking by our construction workers, furthers our confidence. A whistle, a hoot, an obnoxious “hey mama,” puts a bounce in our step. And although we pretend to hate it, our walk changes and we begin to strut.
- I love that we have “our” Starbucks. For some reason a particular store feels like mine. Yesterday a homeless man came into ‘my’ Starbucks, screaming and actually began to scare me. I turned to my barista, who had just handed over my vanilla soy latté, and said, “Do you mind if I stand here with you?” She smiled, nodded and said, “I don’t want you walking by him either.” And so I stood, safely guarded by my Starbucks security guard.
I believe that we all feel some kinship to this city, or else why would so many live here? New York City is the background scene; we have all had distinguishing moments with her. On some level NYC has accomplished a type of world peace, we live in her streets together. She is confident, a little bitchy, but always ahead of the rest.
Why do you love NYC?
n i c o l e . e l l i e . 2009
1 Comment
March 8, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Love this post. You captured the essence of NYC and why so many come, stay or, in my case, return. NY’ers are a complicated bunch. Like you, perhaps, I find the City envelopes me in a kind of love, protection and dare I say, warmth, that is not always so obvious. Keep up the great work!