Do you know what drives me crazy? How people from New York figure that everyone knows everything about New York. In books, plays, movies, TV shows, it is just assumed that all of the rest of us understand the implications behind a kid from Harlem versus a kid from the Upper West side. Or we understand what it means to live in Queens versus "The Village" without any sort of explanation. I just read a book that takes place in New York, and seriously, by the end of it, I thought that I'd need a book about New York City just to understand it. It's the same with Law and Order, King of Queens, Friends, 30 Rock, not to mention all the tons of movies based in NYC.
I understand that New York is a huge city with a long history of tradition. People have lived for generations in the different burroughs giving it a colorful culture. But, for those of us that are not part of it, stick a little explanation in there once in awhile.
Do natives of other large cities do this? I have never read a book about Seattle or Miami or Dallas and had to try and figure out the neighborhoods or the cultural implications behind where someone lives. If I wrote a book about Salt Lake and talked about the Avenues or South Salt Lake or Magna, Utahns would understand what was going on without any kind of explanation, but New Yorkers wouldn't. ("Why is the girl from Davis County worried about finding a modest prom dress? Why does everyone at Brighton High School drive a jeep? What's the difference between Gateway and Valley Fair Mall?") It's confusing, isn't it? How does that feel, New Yorkers?
3 comments:
Amen, sister. I'm so glad you said something... I was embarassed that I was the only one who didn't know what Long Island and Queens and the Bronx meant! FORGET ABOUT IT!Now I know that there are 2 of us.
Good call, although New York is growing on me the more I visit it (it's only a 4-hour drive).
Although, I will say that the secret to New York is to take a baby. We took Zola there for a couple of days last summer and we were the toast of the town.
ok, 2 things:
what book did you read?
when are we going to NY?
I miss you!
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