Saint Louis - Home 4.01.2007 | 3 Comment(s)

New York City was amazing. It was everything I wanted it to be, but not at all as intimidating or as overwhelming as I thought it would be. I did feel like a third wheel at times. My friend met her girlfriend in NYC and there were times...to many times...when I was left alone, but I made the best of it. I explored Manhattan on my own and mastered the subway system my second day. I was on express trains, transferred, went up, down and cross town all with only one screw up. I was pretty proud of myself! I felt like a real New Yorker :)

The Village was by far my favorite neighborhood, as was Chelsea, that whole area around Washington Square Park is just fantastic, although I really liked Midtown as well. We stayed a few blocks north of the Chrysler Building and I was surprised how commercial and residential mixed and blended together.

There is SO much St. Louis can learn from cities like New York. I saw tons of simple, easy things that would work so well in St. Louis if someone implemented them. Oh well.

I do have a new appreciation for Saint Louis though. I came to really appreciate our neighborhoods and, believe it or not, our size. It was hard not to feel totally insignificant in NYC, there are just so many people. New Yorkers aren't mean, as most people think, but I think they are...disconnected...from each other. They are ready to pounce on any perceived weakness and they think only of themselves when they're around each other.

For instance, my Midwestern sensibilities tell me to that people who are in line in front of me to go first, and the people behind me will follow me. Well I followed that logic and after waiting for a train that was running 20 minutes late, I found myself being pushed to the back of the line and ultimately missing the train. I quickly discovered that manners get you nowhere in NYC. So I lost them, and caught a lot more trains.

New Yorkers also jaywalk like crazy, and by the end of my trip I was jaywalking with the best of them. Pedestrians are fearless up there, as are drivers. Both groups seem to egg the other on by breaking the rules.

It was a wonderful trip and I truly think I could make it up there...I have no doubt I could.

The worst part of my trip was the plane ride home. There were 3 babies on the plane who cried the whole 3 hours, loudly, and I was lucky enough to be sitting next to a...well a thug is really the best way to describe him. Yes, babies crying is annoying but there's really not much you can do. This man of over 21 years (he ordered a beer during the flight) and his thug friends dropped the MF bomb and threatened to beat up the parents and their babies in loud voices. I couldn't believe this fat bastard was sitting next to me.

When I turned my camera on to take a picture of the STL skyline during our final approach, he told me to turn my camera off because he'd never flown before and apparently he thought the camera would somehow cause the plane to drop out of the sky. It's funny how morons like that turn into pussies when they're scared. I rolled my eyes and turned it off, which wasn't good enough because I over heard him planning my murders, as well as the crying children's, as he departed. That really was the worst flight ever.

That aside, I had a wonderful trip.

I took some pictures, I'll post a few for now. I took over 200 photos, so when I've culled through all of them, I'll post them on flickr and let you know they're there. For now, I present these quickies, click on the photo to see larger photos:

By  Anonymous, at 1:42 PM

Wow, great pics! I can't wait to until you post the rest!

By  Anonymous, at 2:47 PM

The photos look fantastic.


"I couldn't believe this fat bastard was sitting next to me."

The guy sounds like a pain in the neck. But did you have to go there on the "fat" comment? Didn't his behavior speak for itself?

By  H, at 5:58 PM

That is an interesting perspective you came home with, because on a recent trip to Manhattan, I also came back with a much greater appreciation for St. Louis. While in NYC I noticed that a city is a city. The same problems exist in both (crime, garbage, grafitti (absolutely everywhere in NYC!!), traffic, etc., etc.) it is just part of everyday life there and accepted and people here think they have to move away from these "problems". Somehow the mindset of those outside the STL city limits needs to change. People outside of NYC appreciate their city and it shows by how many people you see in Manhattan that aren't residents.

I completely enjoyed myself there and would gladly live there, but I love it here and like OWNING an old house. And as I said, I appreciate what we have more now, for whatever reason.