According to Travel & Leisure Magazine, New York has moved into the #2 spot from #1 for Rudest People (http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-rudest-cities). But you only have to read the first paragraph of the article to understand the truth about New Yorkers: We're outspoken and honest, but we've got your back.
When comedian Jim Dailikis moved to New York City from Australia several years ago, he expected a city full of rude, abrasive people. But New Yorkers didn’t really live up to the stereotype, he says. “They’re friendly, but they have a different way of showing you,” he says. As he now says in his act, “I love New Yorkers—they stab me in the front.”
I couldn't think of anything more true. Yes, we will tell you so if we think you're a jerk (at least with our eyes). We don't pretend to like you (unless we work for you), and we just don't have time for niceties. If we're out to get you, you'll know it, trust me.
Some more New Yorkisms:
- We're in a rush, so don't dilly-dally in front of us while touristing in Manhattan.
- We really don't want to hang out with all of our neighbors, so we're not going to bake cookies for you and come by to introduce ourselves when you move into our building/onto our street.
- We are not looking for a workout partner. Please just let me run with my headphones/earbuds blasting.
- We're not going to lie to you: If we don't like you, and sometimes, frankly, even if we do, we're not going to make dinner plans with you. We're just too busy with the rest of our lives.
We are, however, there for each other and for strangers:
- If you fall in the middle of the street, we will stop and help you.
- If someone mugs you, we will stop them/chase them and hold them for the police.
- If you have groceries and live in our building, we will hold the door for you. If you are struggling, we will help you.
- If you are older or we have reason to be concerned for you and we don't see you for a couple of days, we will check on you.
- If you look like a tourist and really do look lost, we will stop and give you really precise directions, and perhaps even lead you to your destination (depending upon how far it is and how desperate you look).
Not so in other places. And frankly, I prefer the honesty to pretend niceties.
For example: My sister-in-law and brother moved to the suburbs after living and working in the city for their entire lives. When my niece was two, she was out shopping in the local mall with her mother, my sister-in-law, when she fell and cut her chin wide open on a clothing rack. Everyone just stared at them as blood gushed all over her, the floor, the clothes. Including the sales clerks. "Do you have a nurse in the mall?" "Can I please have a tissue to wipe up the blood?" My sister-in-law asked prompting questions and was met with rote responses, a tissue handed over without actual contact, etc. It was awful.
Another example: While traveling in Atlanta, Georgia, with my family (I had three small children at the time), we stopped for breakfast in a Waffle House. Afterwards in the parking lot, my oldest, five years old at the time, accidentally went to the wrong white car (it looked just like our rental, and he wasn't wearing his glasses). He hurt his hand and started to cry. A very well-dressed woman in high heels, in her early 20s, ran out of the Waffle House and started yelling and cursing at our son! A crowd gathered in the parking lot while she ranted and raved at him. I argued back logically but was about to lose my cool and jump this crazy chick when my husband convinced me to leave, lest the crowd jump us in response. You see, we are a mixed-race couple, and it was blatantly obvious that no one was happy that we were there. In the middle of a major city. At a Waffle House.
I travel a lot for work. In other cities, and while stuck in airports, I have a lot of time to people watch. I've had people strike up conversations with me, smile at me, complain about the delays to me. But I've rarely had anyone help me with my luggage when I was pregnant, offer to help me while I struggled lifting my carry-on into the storage bin, or return a lost item (including my cell phone). I HAVE had this happen in New York, though to be fair, I've also had people ignore me, not give me a seat on the subway even when I was eight months pregnant, and look the other way when I was searching for my cell phone in a 7-11 (those people looked right at me when the store clerk let me call it, and it rang in their hands).
Yes, there are people who are less than friendly all over the country. My point is simply that in spite of the rudeness, most of the time, when it counts, New Yorkers have got your back.
So go ahead, let the comments rip. If you live in another part of the country, I want to hear about the time a perfect stranger came to your aid. Or returned your cell phone/wallet without prompting. Or ran over to assist when you were being attacked/struggling with packages/holding a bleeding child.
Just keep it short and sweet. Us New Yorkers are busy, you know.
No comments:
Post a Comment