New York, New York...
....How do I loathe thee, let me count the ways.....
Unlike so many of my contemporaries I don't harbor romantic dreams of my life "when I was just starting out". I believe that is because I was just "starting out" in that giant suburb/parking lot known as New Jersey. Don't send me nasty emails...I know there are trees...I know the whole state cannot be distilled down to "which exit"?...and I know there are people there who aren't simply saving to get a place in Manhattan. I still don't like it all that much.
However, my feelings for New Jersey are warm and familial compared to my feelings for the city of New York. I have been to many cities. In a number of these cities English wasn't even the language of choice. All of them had poor, desperate people, sometimes I was one of them. However, the only place I was ever robbed? New York. The only place I've ever seriously feared for my life? New York. The only place I was every hit by a moving vehicle? Left as colateral with the bouncers at a club? Had my shoes stolen? New York, New York, New York.
Don't get me wrong...I love the Met. One of my fantasies is to get locked in the Met, by myself, for some extended period of time with a sketch pad, a mechanical pencil, a case of granola bars and a 1.75L bottle of Jack. I generally really enjoy off-Broadway theater (provided none of my ex-boyfriends are acting in or directing the play). I think Central Park is one of the coolest places on earth. And one of my favorite, melancholy, joyful memories in life was listening to Billy Holiday on a juke box in a Bowery bar (probably gone now...Thanks gentrification. Thanks Rudy.) late at night over one more screw-driver than it was safe for me to consume (An honest thanks to the wonderful bartender who bought me that drink and got me safely in a cab when all the Billy in the juke box had been played). It's all that other stuff I could live without...Crowds for example. Ever tried to do anything without a crowd in New York? Dirt, noise, and people who steal your shoes.
Of course the thing I hate most about New York is my college boyfriend's mother. She was a horror! OMG! I can't even begin to tell you...mostly because I'm afraid it will get back to her and she'll hunt me down and kill me...And what frightens me most about her??? Well, I'll tell you....That I will grow up to be just like her if I try to raise children in New York. There! I said it. Now I can go to sleep tonight and dream good dreams of suburbs and parking lots and parkway exits in New Jersey where I could raise a child who potentially won't hate and fear me.
Unlike so many of my contemporaries I don't harbor romantic dreams of my life "when I was just starting out". I believe that is because I was just "starting out" in that giant suburb/parking lot known as New Jersey. Don't send me nasty emails...I know there are trees...I know the whole state cannot be distilled down to "which exit"?...and I know there are people there who aren't simply saving to get a place in Manhattan. I still don't like it all that much.
However, my feelings for New Jersey are warm and familial compared to my feelings for the city of New York. I have been to many cities. In a number of these cities English wasn't even the language of choice. All of them had poor, desperate people, sometimes I was one of them. However, the only place I was ever robbed? New York. The only place I've ever seriously feared for my life? New York. The only place I was every hit by a moving vehicle? Left as colateral with the bouncers at a club? Had my shoes stolen? New York, New York, New York.
Don't get me wrong...I love the Met. One of my fantasies is to get locked in the Met, by myself, for some extended period of time with a sketch pad, a mechanical pencil, a case of granola bars and a 1.75L bottle of Jack. I generally really enjoy off-Broadway theater (provided none of my ex-boyfriends are acting in or directing the play). I think Central Park is one of the coolest places on earth. And one of my favorite, melancholy, joyful memories in life was listening to Billy Holiday on a juke box in a Bowery bar (probably gone now...Thanks gentrification. Thanks Rudy.) late at night over one more screw-driver than it was safe for me to consume (An honest thanks to the wonderful bartender who bought me that drink and got me safely in a cab when all the Billy in the juke box had been played). It's all that other stuff I could live without...Crowds for example. Ever tried to do anything without a crowd in New York? Dirt, noise, and people who steal your shoes.
Of course the thing I hate most about New York is my college boyfriend's mother. She was a horror! OMG! I can't even begin to tell you...mostly because I'm afraid it will get back to her and she'll hunt me down and kill me...And what frightens me most about her??? Well, I'll tell you....That I will grow up to be just like her if I try to raise children in New York. There! I said it. Now I can go to sleep tonight and dream good dreams of suburbs and parking lots and parkway exits in New Jersey where I could raise a child who potentially won't hate and fear me.
posted by Mary Hopkins | 8:09 PM
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