[Barry]

I did not mean to demean NYC population. Actually, I miss the place. I was attempting a metaphor. In this thread, those who were griping about not using the search function were from NYC. I would find it just as unhospitable for them not to offer street directions by telling the person in need to "look it up" as I do reading that same response in this community. Just my point of view, but I think that a response like that is unfriendly and (probably unintentionally) condescending. A more gracious response would be, in my view, to answer the question with information that the requester would find useful. We all need help, informaton, etc., sometimes, and I don't think that we should be put through judgemental "hoops" as a result.

And Philly sports fans astound me. Otherwise nice, intellegent people turn into almost human. But our restaurants, right now, rock!. Come for a visit.

Barry

 

[Barry]

Bushguy - hopefully my earlier response clarifies my view of the big Apple. Actually, while I lived there, I was uniformly impressed on how helpful people were - and often when I least expected it. Hence my surprise at the response in this thread. My rant over - apologies to those I offended.

Barry

 

[dw6928]

Otherwise nice, intellegent people turn into almost human
I think you may want to rephrase that.
I visit center city often. my sister lives in Wayne (main line)
my niece works for Penn and many family members in the Penn community (faculty and admin). the restaurants have come a long way since Pat's and Bookbinder's as the only
hot spots. Warm, warm spot in the heart for the town.

 

[Barry]

I live in Center City, near Rittenhouse Square and work past Wayne.

And these wonderful people, my neighbors and coworkers, turn into something else when they don't like a Sports Team. Kind of amazing. Also fun. And maybe not quite human, by some standards. But this sports behavior does not show up in their day to day living.

Actually, for a long time, I missed New York and pretended that Philly was almost a city. Now Philly is home. It has most of the amenities as NY and much less of a hassle factor. City squares, such as Rittenhouse Square are models of urban living and the diversity of community. There really is a broad spectrum of people who relax and use the square -- ranging from the homeless to students to the really wealthy. It all works.

You are right about the restaurants. I know some people who live in NY and have taken the train to eat on one of our top restaurants. With the train fare, still cheaper than NY, to my surprise.

The best restaurants are the little BYOBs that pepper each neighorhood.

And I invite all to visit our (relatively) new Constitution Center. Establishes a terrific context for the thought and dialog that lead to the birth of our nation.

Now, is there anybody else that I can offend?

 

[laxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry /img/forum/go_quote.gif I did not mean to demean NYC population. Actually, I miss the place. I was attempting a metaphor. In this thread, those who were griping about not using the search function were from NYC. I would find it just as unhospitable for them not to offer street directions by telling the person in need to "look it up" as I do reading that same response in this community. Just my point of view, but I think that a response like that is unfriendly and (probably unintentionally) condescending. A more gracious response would be, in my view, to answer the question with information that the requester would find useful. We all need help, informaton, etc., sometimes, and I don't think that we should be put through judgemental "hoops" as a result. And Philly sports fans astound me. Otherwise nice, intellegent people turn into almost human. But our restaurants, right now, rock!. Come for a visit. Barry

Well, most people who open this thread are from NYC. I wouldn't expect someone from California opening this thread to post a reply to something he probably doesn't know. You have to take into effect that practically everyone who responded to this thread is/was from NYC.

 

[dw6928]

is there any other place to live or have lived? remember the
great quote: "when you leave New York, you are going nowhere."

 

[BushGuy]

I've found it's not a matter of the town where you have landed - but how you relate to others. Truthfully, while an adherent to "traditiional" American viewpoints and ideals - far too many of my fellow Americans have been veering far afield from those ideals. I'm finding myself more "at home" in more foreign climes these days ,where life has not become radicalized. American citizenship has become worthless today - so I have had no inclination to cheerlead for NYC - just stating things as I see them from personal experience.

edit: re question above - I lived in Lexington Kentucky for awhile......then ended up back in NYC. Those are two extremely different worlds. Like places in Virginia - if you lived there for 50 years - you'd still be regarded and referred to as the newcomer.

 

[Barry]

For a significant time, I lived in Albany NY. It was right about the time that then NYC Mayor Koch killed his chances to become Governor by saying some very uncomplimentary things about Albany and upstate NY in general. While he was right in that you could not, at the time, get decent Chinese food in Albany, he really missed the boat.

It may seem that I do not appreciate my erstwhile hometown of NYC. Not true and would love to go back, if finances permit.

I think that Bushguy has it right. In one of my jobs, I had to travel a great deal. Found that most people were wonderful, friendly, even if they were sometimes suspicious (at first) of newcomers. What I also found is that the culture of communication was often different from region to region. Those differences could make it easy to get misunderstood until people realize what is going on.

Only occasionally Southern politeness masks a not-so-kindly individual and sometimes NYC brash hides people with a wonderful heart. And vice versa. But mostly, people in my travels were just people. Most good, some not so good, very rare people really not so good.

 

[MrSlacker]

I am not sure why people say that NYCers are not friendly... I always give directions or help tourists if they ask me to. I never say "look it up." However, this is an internet forum and information here remains saved after someone posts it. Seriously, whats easier to post a new thread and wait for replies, or just type in "NYC stores" in the search and get 1000 posts about it instantly...