As I write this post, I'm sitting in a bustling Starbucks cafe in mid-town Manhattan about to leave to a little suburb in Northern Virginia that I currently call home. For the last few weeks I've been visiting a client in New York quite frequently and every time I step out of the station into the busy streets of Manhattan, I can't help but quote Baz Luhrmann's lyrics from Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) to myself. "Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft".
I've never lived in or even visited Northern California, but I can tell you this, it doesn't take long for New York city to make you hard. I remember my first visit here around 2 years ago when I walked around the city careful not to bump into anyone, apoligised to anyone I brushed against. Stopped on a red walk sign, allowed cars the right of the way. Now, after spending the better part of three months here, I drag my little strolley around at full clip down the avenues and streets not caring who's toes I drag it over. Apologise? You've got to be kidding!! I stop where I feel like and walk when I feel like it regardless of how many people I bump into or how many cars swerve.
Darwin must have come up with his theory of evolution after studying New Yorkers, for this is definitely a process of natural selection. You either survive or you quit. I for one would love to quit.
Having spent most of my life in small towns, New York came as a nasty surprise. It's crowded, dirty & noisy - And this is coming from from a guy born and brought up in India. People are always in a hurry whether or not they have a place to go to. It's insanely expensive, and even with an extremely good hotel expense policy I sometimes wind up getting rooms worse than I have ever lived in. Not always, but sometimes they just don't have rooms. New York is the only city where I have stayed in where I got bitten by bed bugs in the hotel- And that's after paying $350 a night.
So why do so many people want to live here? There has got to be something to it. Is it just to have a 10001 zip code? Is it that you can be who ever you are and no one would give you a second look. Right in this cafe there's a guy with his hair in three colors, a woman who's trousers start almost where her thong ends and no one cares. They say you could walk down manhattan stark naked and people would probably think to themselves "Interesting" and continue on their way. Or maybe it's because just looking around you in this city can make you feel like you've arrived. You start believing in the American Dream. You're ready to reach for the stars.
I sat in a cab a few days back and actually survived the ride. The cab driver had a short conversation with me and was surprised I travel here from Virginia to meet clients during the week when I have the option of living here. He boasted to me about how successful he is living in New York. I started to point out that he was driving me around in his cab when I realised that's what New Yorkers are about. Wherever in their lives they may be they are proud of it. The most lonely city in the world, the most likely place for a person to die alone. Yet New Yorkers are proud.
What's my point? I don't know .. but that's New York for you , in a New York minute. Next stop Northern California !!
