Ah New York..the mystique, the marvel, the art, the culture, the most opinionated people in the world who aren't afraid to tell you what they're thinking. Ha. A couple of months ago while I was at Ikea, I had a woman ask if my grey hair was real or if I dyed it on purpose because I looked too young to be so grey...Um yeah. I guess I am old enough to have grey hair because it's definitely real. The other week I was at the grocery store, and this older lady told me not to dye my hair because the grey was coming in great. Other people would be jealous of how good it will look once it all grows in. I told that was good since I was getting really self conscious about my grey..and in my head (nice of you to point out because this really means this grey is becoming really quite noticeable). We were in Chelsea the other weekend, and the newspaper man - the man who wears shredded newspapers as an outfit - told me I should have my son take karate lessons. He was like, "you see that right?" Ok, yeah sure - he's half asian - he should take a martial arts class of some sort eventually. It is NYC afterall, and I do tend to expect to hear random comments thrown at me as I walk down the street. It always has been that way.
The problem nowadays with NY is I feel like we are getting priced out. If you're not the upper 5% , it really is difficult to live. I didn't feel it as a single person I guess because I didn't have that many expenses. Whateves if I needed to and was low on cash, I could eat Ramen for a week. But now with a kid..you need more space, you need daycare, you need more food - and healthy food at that, you want them to have a good education and extracurricular activities. How do you pay for it all when most of your money goes to rent? You also want to live in a nice neighborhood and am I willing to sacrifice the neighborhood for cheaper rent? Do I want to live miles away from Manhattan to get that cheaper rent? What should the sacrifices be? Or is it even worth staying in NYC? I could have a house with a backyard for the amount I pay yearly in rent for a 1 bedroom apartment. What does NYC have that no where else in the country has? The convenience of public transit? The way you can find a restaurant or deli somewhere open at any time of day? The variety of cultures all present in one place. There is a lot I love about NY. I suppose I used to love it more when I took a very active part in the nightlife because you really can't beat it. I love the vast food options. I love summers in NYC when there are all those free concerts. Do I love being packed like a tuna during rush hour to get to work? Do I love the smelly subway platforms and the smelly streets especially in summer or when it rains? Do I love all the dog shit my neighbors so kindly leave on the sidewalks of my 'hood? Do I love my really noisy neighbors who love to hang out on the stoop at night especially on hot summer nights when you have the windows open? There's always the good, the bad and the ugly in any city, town or village that you live in. You've either got to take it all, but there's nothing stopping you from leaving it too if you so choose to do so. Maybe one day we can pack it all up and move to a European city by the sea. But I'm still very unsure of where to live if I lived outside of NY. I've never lived anywhere else..
