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May 22, 2004
First Week in NYC
"And on the 7th day He rested"
I am on my 7th day in NYC, and finally, because it's a Saturday, i can just relax. I was only here for about 18 hours until i started working on Monday, so sleeping in today has been great!
Things of note during the week:
-- street vendor food is ok, especially for $5, but i don't think i will survive on it. So after two semi-acceptable lunches of $5 each (gyros) and two wonderful lunches for $13 each (sandwiches and stuff from Pret and Cosi) i think i will start bringing my lunch so i can strike a balance... we'll see if it happens.
-- the subway train atmosphere is increasingly intriguing: now that i am not scared of standing with a bunch of NY'ers in a confined space, i like to observe the interaction between people. it is absolute minimal interaction (no speaking, hardly any moving, not much looking around) yet people manage to cooperate very well, despite the extremely packed trains (sometimes), the rush hour stress, the rattling bouncing train, and the inability to sit down (most of the time). sometimes a guy with a very articulate, trained voice will come thru the cars, annoucing how he lost his job and is very hungry, but that is a rare occurrence. so far i am very happy with NY's subway trains...
-- businesses here are so specialized, yet are such high quality: i think because they get so much business, they can specialize in just offering really good things (like just bagels or ice cream or whatever). Yes, there are these stores in smaller cities, but they are often corporate chains, which can get away with less-than-optimal stuff. Here, they are all individual businesses, and if they don't make something great that people really like, they will get quickly replaced by some other business who can. it is competition at its finest...
-- Manhattan is not at all the jungle i thought it was: it is more like a giant airport, where everybody is there for a purpose, is often on a tight schedule, and is just trying to get from one place to another. People here are SO busy that 99% of the people are just trying to get where they want to go, and do what they have to do. Granted i've only been here for 1 week and i have 11 to go, but so far its going well.
Posted by MaTT at May 22, 2004 03:32 PM
Comments
:) In sex and the city, Smantha realizes that she can get anything delivered when in NYC, so if she wanted sushi at 3am, she could get it
I didn't have anything to do while in Manhattan and I just bummed around during the day, and the trains were almost empty because everyone was probably at work
Posted by: Urs at May 23, 2004 09:48 AM
Yeah, apparently you can order McDonald's food online and then get it delivered! Crazy... people don't even have to exert enough effort to walk or even pick up the phone anymore ;)
Posted by: MaTT at May 23, 2004 06:09 PM
I really like the thought of impractically specific stores! I want there to be a bagel shop that only does bagels; you have to buy your bagels and take them to the cream cheese specialty shop if you want any schmear! :)
Posted by: CommanderFalafel at May 23, 2004 06:51 PM