Back to work

I haven't written lately because I've been gone. I just got back from the Big Apple. It was a short vacation, if you can call it that.

I know there are a lot of fans of New York out there. If you are among them stop reading this blog now.

I just don't get it! Plain and simple, I don't get it. I know New York has a lot to offer, I just can't figure out what it is.

When I go to New York what I find is a place with thousands of grumpy people. It is fast paced, and stress inducing environment. I find that it doesn't take long before I'm just as stressed out as everyone else, and terminally grumpy.

I have traveled to lots of cities, and there is only one that I can compare New York with. It's Moscow!

I remember being there in the early 90's. I remember staring at people getting off the bus or the subway there and seeing everyone armed with a blank stare. No spark in their eyes. Just vacant faces trudging through life. I tend to see the same thing on the streets of New York.

We were in New York to pick up our daughter at JFK. Of course you won't find any kindness as you wait in the terminal for your loved one to come off their plane. People with luggage managed to bang into us repeatedly. Move this way, here's another guy with luggage...bang. Move over here...same thing...bang. The security guard came by and barked at parents, "Watch your kids, move back!!" Welcome to happy town, welcome to New York.

We left the airport and decided to get some real New York style Pizza. We ended up at a pizza parlour that was highly recommended. The guy who took our order was right out of Seinfeld. He was the Pizza Nazi. We ordered a pizza, but also ordered bruschetta. He looked at me like I had three heads. "That's going to take time, I mean like 25 minutes! I want you to know it, because I don't want you coming up here and complaining in 20 minutes. None of this where's my food! You'll just have to wait, do you understand!" . What's not to understand, the guy is a jerk.

Later my wife went up to talk to him about desserts. Here is the gist of the one sided conversation: "We're all out, you have to order cheesecake, that's all we have, take it or leave it." Customer service and dealing with people were obviously strong suits for this guy.

There is this famous speech attributed to Kurt Vonnegut that he never gave. It was the commencement address at MIT in 1997. It is still worth citing, only it was actually written by Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune. It was her ideal commencement address she would give if ever asked. In it she wrote, "Live in New York once but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft." I did one, but don't plan on doing the other. Unless staying three days in a New York hotel counts as living somewhere. It felt like a lifetime for me!