NYC First Impressions
Jul. 15th, 2004 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walbournIf you ever wondered what society would be like if people verbally vented their every frustration, visit NYC. People think nothing of yelling at strangers for taking a bit too long to exit the subway--and thus holding up the train--or for tripping themselves while in a hurry to exit. When one of Heinlein's characters spoke of how a planet with cities of more than a million people are doomed due to the loss of basic politeness, this city exemplifies what he means.
The city itself is a fasciniating mix of people, beautiful old buildings, landscaping, and a buzz with a dozen languages and the sounds of birds. Yet, it is coated with all the necessities of eight million souls living so closely together. Piles of trash line the street in the evening, waiting to be whisked away overnight. The polite order of the traffic lights are ignored in favor of shaving a few seconds off your travel time. Everyone jaywalks--or as Todd says, 'traffic wading'. The most common traffic noise you hear is honking of car horns.
I slept in late today since I'm still on Pacific time, getting up around 11pm local time, showering, and heading out. I took the 1-9 subway to the 79th street station. Since I hadn't had any real food since early yesterday, I had lunch at an italian place across the street from the American Museum of Natural History, my destination. Lunch was pleasant, if pricey--the entree was only $8, but the drink added $3 and the salad $4. Todd had a AMNH membership pass, which he loaned me for the day. The AMNH is pretty cool, but the main attraction for me was the Rose Center for Earth and Space. Cosmology was my first love in science, and while I never pursued it as a vocation I still find it fascinating. Lots of cool exhibits on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, the evolution of the Solar System, the Big Bang, Earth, and lots of meteorites. Since the admission was free, I went ahead and sprung for the Planetarium shows.
Neat.
So I'm sitting back in Todd's apartment after having ridden the C train back to the 23rd street. Some non-English speaking people jumped into the turn-stile to avoid paying for the MetroCard. If you are big into personal space and not being in crowds, stay the hell away from NYC...
Anyhow, Todd's home so I'll stop babbling for now...
The city itself is a fasciniating mix of people, beautiful old buildings, landscaping, and a buzz with a dozen languages and the sounds of birds. Yet, it is coated with all the necessities of eight million souls living so closely together. Piles of trash line the street in the evening, waiting to be whisked away overnight. The polite order of the traffic lights are ignored in favor of shaving a few seconds off your travel time. Everyone jaywalks--or as Todd says, 'traffic wading'. The most common traffic noise you hear is honking of car horns.
I slept in late today since I'm still on Pacific time, getting up around 11pm local time, showering, and heading out. I took the 1-9 subway to the 79th street station. Since I hadn't had any real food since early yesterday, I had lunch at an italian place across the street from the American Museum of Natural History, my destination. Lunch was pleasant, if pricey--the entree was only $8, but the drink added $3 and the salad $4. Todd had a AMNH membership pass, which he loaned me for the day. The AMNH is pretty cool, but the main attraction for me was the Rose Center for Earth and Space. Cosmology was my first love in science, and while I never pursued it as a vocation I still find it fascinating. Lots of cool exhibits on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, the evolution of the Solar System, the Big Bang, Earth, and lots of meteorites. Since the admission was free, I went ahead and sprung for the Planetarium shows.
Neat.
So I'm sitting back in Todd's apartment after having ridden the C train back to the 23rd street. Some non-English speaking people jumped into the turn-stile to avoid paying for the MetroCard. If you are big into personal space and not being in crowds, stay the hell away from NYC...
Anyhow, Todd's home so I'll stop babbling for now...
