What can you say about New York that it hasn't already said about itself? This is one city that I won't even try to summarize. New Yorkers love it here. And hate it. And they know the rest of the county hates it. And loves it. Where else could you come for so much culture in one city? And where else could you walk down a street and have a thief crash through a storefront window and take off down the cross-street, as happened right in front of me that day? The best and worst are distilled in this pressure cooker of a metropolis.
As the security guard at the Met showed, not even fellow New Yorkers are spared the wrath of New Yorkers. On the other hand, New Yorkers aren't as ornery as they're often made out to be; they've just seen everything. If you entered an establishment panicked because you had been shot, it may be your first time being shot, but it's not their first time seeing a shooting victim. So they seem to you not to care enough.
Of course, New Yorkers softened somewhat after the WTC attack, but like everyone else they soon went back to their old ways.
Chicago writer Kevin Grandfield visited 47 US cities where Edward Hopper paintings hung in public museums and asked people, "Do you feel Americans are isolated as Hopper portrayed us?" What he heard, learned, and experienced fills the pages of this blog. (Hit CTRL + to make the text bigger.) Thanks for visiting! Copyright ©2013 and prior years, Kevin Grandfield. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment