fluid said:

dont look at people directly in the eye. keep your head down and never i mean never ride the F train at 4 am

Living in New York, for me, is a love/hate relationship.


There is an indescribable energy here that I've not really felt anywhere else. You can get anything you want, pretty much any time you want: live music, any kind of food you want, etc. There are so many experience that are "only in New York"...like my friend Matt carrying a six foot whale rib bone on the subway at rush hour and no one batting an eye. It's diverse. It's crazy. It has its own set of rules.

But on the down side, unless you make a lot of money, everything is expensive. And a hassle. For example, it's usually a 20 minute subway ride for me to get home from work. On Friday evening rush hour I waited 10 minutes for a train, it was too packed and I couldn't fit on. I waited 10 more minutes. Another train came, also too crowded and I couldn't fit on. (And of course the platform is getting more and more crowded because people are getting off work and waiting.) Ten minutes later a third train comes. I could have walked home by this time. Seriously. It takes me 30 minutes to walk home (but it was colder than I anticipated and I didn't have a hat, and I was tired). I shove myself into the train and it's like sardines for me to go two stops. I had to push people out of the way to get off or I would have missed my stop.


.
[Edited 2/14/09 20:50pm]

SCNDLS said:

Everything stinks in London,,,,,EEEEESPECIALLY the food my god, I could die from starvation whenever I go there.

jone70 said:

yeah, takes me over an hour to get to work in NYC...I hate when the train takes forever. The other day I had to squeeze myself on the train and I was next to some person who had awful body odor...I was only one stop away. Had to keep holding my breath.

JackieBlue said:

I'm fascinated with the NY subway too I'm a people's person which maybe the reason behind this fascination,,,,,I guess when you're a New Yorker, you get jaded from seeing all the madness everyday for your whole time living there,,,,but it doesn't really become jaded to passionate observers.

Harlepolis said:

I was there for 9 days and ate at a Jamaican restaurant 6 times.

Harlepolis said:

I have walked many a mile to avoid taking the train. And in the summer it's unbelievable. Some stations feel like you're literally going into hell. You're sweating just waiting on the platform. Then you get on the train with hundreds of other sweaty people and some who don't bathe or use deoderant... argh. By the time you get to work you need to shower again. I know some people actually carry their work clothes with them and change when they get to the job.

JackieBlue said:

That is a definate flaw with the system. The whole system is full of flaws especially the stuff I've discovered from my friends in the last year but I love that it can take you pretty much anywhere and if the subway can't get you to a cetain area, you can connect with a bus and still get to where you need to be. It can be a pain, especially where I am but I find a way to enjoy it.

JackieBlue said:

That is a definate flaw with the system. The whole system is full of flaws especially the stuff I've discovered from my friends in the last year but I love that it can take you pretty much anywhere and if the subway can't get you to a cetain area, you can connect with a bus and still get to where you need to be. It can be a pain, especially where I am but I find a way to enjoy it.

I like to visit, but it doesn't seem like "home" to me.

ThreadBare said:

Thats one of the reasons why I moved out,,,,

I don't want my kids growing up with a "looking over one's shoulder" mentality. They don't have to live the same childhood as I did because I'm in no rush for them to grow up quickly.

ThreadBare said:

Thats one of the reasons why I moved out,,,,

I don't want my kids growing up with a "looking over one's shoulder" mentality. They don't have to live the same childhood as I did because I'm in no rush for them to grow up quickly.

Harlepolis said:

Yeah, that whole "don't look folks in the eye" mentality is foreign to me and I wouldn't wanna have to keep my guard up like that 24/7. I've dated several guys from Brooklyn, who always tell me that they like "southern" girls cuz they don't have that chip on their shoulder like most women from NY. Oddly enough, the guys were sweet as pie to me. I'ma sucker for the accent tho. Although people from NYC are definitely more "intense" I've had great experiences with people I've gotten to know from there. They are a bit spayshul tho.

Harlepolis said:

Yeah, but it's funny being here in the South and meeting up with other East Coast folks. I was at a party a few weeks ago and met up with someone from NYC. I missed the bluntness she carries with her. That reminds me of the East Coast.

ThreadBare said:

The word is "ACT", dear don't fall for it The whole "tough, around-the-way, blunt" New Yorker persona is only a defence mechanism, so folks won't knock us out. We're NOTHING like that, trust me.


New Yorkers are a bunch of punks, sometimes.

ThreadBare said:

The word is "ACT", dear don't fall for it The whole "tough, around-the-way, blunt" New Yorker persona is only a defence mechanism, so folks won't knock us out. We're NOTHING like that, trust me.


New Yorkers are a bunch of punks, sometimes.

Harlepolis said:

I get that but I think it can make it hard for some of them to get close to people or to believe that everyone isn't trynta jack them because they're constantly on alert.
I'd lose my damn mind.
[Edited 2/16/09 8:31am]

SCNDLS said:

On the outside lookin' in, it sounds exhausting but when you grow up with that mentality,,,,it ain't really

Plus when you think about it, it has some advantages to it.

Harlepolis said:

It stank in London too.

SCNDLS said:

Everything stinks in London,,,,,EEEEESPECIALLY the food my god, I could die from starvation whenever I go there.

Harlepolis said:

Where do you guy's eat when in London ...the whole food is bad in london is about 10 -15 years old....get with it..we have some of the best food places in the world ...

SCNDLS said:

Maybe you need to move around abit more ...London like every city can get smelly ..it's a city ...all cities smell... pushing and shoving happens because their is alot of people in one place...

But if you go to the country it smells ...cows etc..

Each time I've visited NY I really enjoyed it. It's a much more interesting city than Baltimore

thekidsgirl said:

... even though Baltimore rocks , I gotta agree.

purplecam said:

The bronx, right?

My elder sister takes the voyage to her work from Jamaica State, Queens ALL the way to the Bronx every-----day Oh it is brutal.

purplecam said:

They need to get that East Side line up and running.