Thursday, July 12, 2007

Things to know when in New York

OK, I know I have only lived in the city for about 3 and half weeks now, but let me just vent a little bit. Earlier this week my commute took me through Times Square and Grand Central Station, both insanely busy places. One day while fighting my way through the Port Authority Bus Station I realized something:

Sometimes the simplest trips can be stressful and difficult because about 80% of people generally understand and abide by the unofficial, unwritten rules of the city and the other 20% are just obstacles - human missiles and land mines meant to throw you off course and challenge any sane person.

SO how is one supposed to know what to do and what not to do? Well, these unofficial rules I speak of can be discovered by either asking a New Yorker or simply paying attention to what the hell is going on.

Here are a few the rules I am aware of, in no particular order -

* Sidewalks - made for walking, everyone is in a hurry for one reason or another. If you gotta stop because you are looking up, taking a picture, lost, tired or just plain slow - kindly move to the side.

* Escalators - 2 lanes, stand to the right, keep moving on the left. Not that hard if you concentrate.

* Trains - during rush hour we all know there isn't room. You still gotta squeeze closer to the middle and make room if more people are coming on, trying to preserve some sense of personal bubble is futile. Deal with it!

Following these rules will ease the flow of traffic and help you avoid nasty stares from people on the streets and in the train (*or at least some of them.)


* If someone does give you a nasty look it's probably best to not look back too long or too many times.





More rules to follow in future posts. Peace.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great photo. It is good to know this info of a city, espically from a person living in Nebraska and not been to New York. I will know alittle more how to act or react based off what you share with me. KB

CrisWar said...

jajaj this is funny. And true.

BTW your blog is great. I stumbled upon it while looking for some State work info on the net. Kinda odd and pleasing since I am moving to new york city on July 1st. I love it there and i'm taking classes at the NY film academy. Suffice it to say, your blog is like this big hug that couldn't have come at a better time!

keep up the good work!