Sunday, June 24, 2007

How Do You Get There from Here?

A favorite pasttime of New Yorkers is discussing their routes to...well, everywhere. It never really occurred to me until I heard someone discussing it on This American Life. This guy from Chicago was talking about life in New York City after his recent move. He said that New Yorkers seem completely preoccupied by discussing their routes to and from work. And I completely agree.

Whenever I meet someone new, you get through the what you do, where you live, where you work, the next logical question is, "Well how do you get to work?". EVERYONE has an opinion on your route, and this is in no way a bad thing. If someone informed me of some magical connection that would make my commute shorter I'd probably kiss them but it's so entertaining to listen to.

Also, when someone asks me directions on or near the Subway (happens a lot - tourists probably don't think that a nice Midwestern-looking girl will rob them) another New Yorker occasionally joins the convo to provide their faster route.

So maybe New York's sub-slogan to I (heart) New York should be, "We'll get you where you want to go". That might be the slogan to some car company already, but I say we steal it.

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