New York, New York

This is my third time in New York City. They've all been short visits, only a day or two. Maybe it just took some getting used to, but I'm finally starting to understand why people love New York so much. I wouldn't ever want to live here, but I can see why people who do live here are so devoted to it.

During my previous visits, it just seemed smelly, noisy, and crowded. Those things are still true, but I'm starting to pick up on the vibe a little more now. Maybe I've been to enough strange places in the world that it's just a relief to be somewhere that they speak English, even if it's a crazy place. In one day in New York, I've heard more honking horns, police sirens, and people mumbling incoherently to themselves than I've heard in three years in Switzerland. But somehow, this place works. The 5 billion or so people crammed onto this island manage to pull it off every day, and it's a great place.

The funny thing is that all the stereotypes about New York City aren't really stereotypes; they're true! The accent, the attitude, the craziness, all of it. That's how it actually is here. The Swiss are unfailingly polite, if a bit cold. (The same is true of Minnesotans to a lesser degree.) I don't think New Yorkers even know what "polite" means. They're curt and almost rude, but everyone's fine with it. You just have to play along. They love you in their own unique way.

Last time I was here, I stayed near Ground Zero in lower Manhattan, so I was able to walk past Ground Zero and to see the Statue of Liberty. This time, I'm on the 40th floor of a hotel in midtown, about three blocks from Times Square. (I can see Radio City Music Hall out of my window as I'm typing this blog entry.) After my appointments today, I took a couple of hours and just walked around Central Park and then down Broadway to Times Square.

The very existence of Central Park is amazing to me. Someone had the foresight all those years ago to set aside a big chunk of Manhattan to be dedicated to the public rather than being filled with skyscrapers. It's a fun place. It's great that New Yorkers have a place like that, right in the middle of the city, where they can escape the urban craziness. It's like a completely different world in there from the rest of the city.

As I walked around Times Square, I was tempted to try to catch a Broadway play or a musical. After all, it's not every day that I'm staying within a couple of blocks of Broadway, right? But tickets are pretty expensive, and nothing that was playing really grabbed my attention, and if history holds true, tonight will be my worst night for jet lag. It's shortly after 8:00 Eastern time, so I expect to start drooling on my keyboard in about ten minutes. I guess I'll have to do Broadway another time.

I will say that I'm looking forward to heading to Minnesota, where I won't have to face the language barrier that I'm having to face here. I swear, I've had to ask everyone to repeat themselves at least once. The accents are just too strong for me. They can't understand me, either. When I got in the cab to take me from JFK to my hotel, I told the driver, "Sheraton Tower, midtown." I must have been speaking Swiss German, because he looked at me blankly. I repeated myself. He said, "Huh?" I said it one more time, and he said, "You mean the Sheraton New York?" I told him that I had no clue as to how many Sheratons there were in New York, but regardless of how many there were, I wanted to go to the Sheraton that was a tower that was located in midtown.

He started to drive, and then he asked me, "You pay cash?" From his tone of voice, I could tell that what he was really meant was, "Kind sir, as a condition of holding my permit to drive a taxi cab, I am obligated under the ordinances of the city of New York to accept payment in the form of cash or a credit card, whichever you prefer, and I can't push you in any particular direction, but if you could be ever so kind, I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider tendering your payment in cash." In reply, I said, "credit card," which I really meant as "credit card." He grunted and didn't say anything more, but as we approached the hotel a while later, he again asked, "You pay cash?" I used a credit card. I think we bonded a little.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm off to Minnesota, where the people are much more polite but just a bit less colorful. I'll kinda miss New York.