Always Worth the Trip
--pictures by pmPilgrim, 2006

I was back in the New York area last week, but I never get to hear these things when I am there. Maybe I'm just not in the right parts of New York. In any case, here's some more from Overheard in New York:

Employee: Ma'am, can I help you?
Woman: I'd like a half dozen of your chocolate chip cookies.
Employee: We only sell them, like, 1, 2, 3...
Woman to friend: Is she serious?
Friend: She'll take 6.
--Starbucks, Rockefeller Center Concourse

Then, we've all had days like this:

Crazy man: [gibbering]
Sane man: Man, you're crazy.
Crazy man: I'm not crazy. I'm just an instrument out of tune!
--2 train

And a congratulations to this tourist who found just what she was looking for:

Tourist lady, excitedly: I just met my first rude person in this city!
--Serendipity, E 60th St

Actually, I have come to notice that this misconception of the rude New Yorker may actually be enhanced by the famous New York accent. There's a push and shove to it that gives the words an edge that they don't have. Not being a linguist, I don't know how the different American accents started or how they are perpetuated. But the New Yawk accent sure fits the stereotype that we have come to see in the people there. As for me, I simply find New Yorkers always on the go, always overwhelmed by the number of people they meet and run into (figuratively) each day.

New Yorkers at least let you know how they feel.