New York

During the five seconds that I was a student at Brooklyn College, I had to write an essay comparing New York to something. I felt like sharing.

Jacob xxxxxx
English 2

Someday New York Will Notice Me
If life is an incredibly abstract version of high school, New York would be the most popular girl at the table in the center of the cafeteria, and we are all the needy wallflowers hoping that she‘ll notice us. Unfortunately, New York, being the social butterfly that she is, does not have enough time and patience for everybody, and it is up to ourselves to be acknowledged.
In New York, it is quite easy to feel like "just a number" (eight million to be exact). There are few places on the planet full of more activity. With the exception of Times Square, people walk as if they are being chased in a horror film. Subway stations are full of businessmen speed-walking in elegant suits and young women going clickety-clack in their heels while staring at their out-of-service cell phones. Streets are filled with more horns than an orchestra. For the pedestrians, crosswalk signs are coincidental.
On crowded sidewalks and subways in New York, people do not apologize after bumping into you or stepping on your shoe. They abstain from apologizing not necessarily out of rudeness, but because it is the result of the environment. They will likely step on at least two more people today. New York separates itself from other places because, being a city of destination, it is a goal-oriented city of doers and dreamers. When you are trotting idly on the sidewalk, you are literally in the way of someone's dream -- and if you dare to be here without one of your own, that's your fault.
While New York is glad you are in her presence and making an addition to what would be her entourage, she does not look out for you. This is not because she is callous, but because it is an impossible task. New York does not have the time to care if you are lonely or out of place. You are not the only lost pedestrian who got off the subway at the wrong time and ended up in Hell’s Kitchen en route to Times Square. You are not the only newcomer wondering why it is impossible to find a 12-pack of soda in lieu of two or three liter bottles -- nor are you the only newcomer who is still learning to call it “soda”, since your colloquialism of “pop” sounds more like a hard drug than a soft beverage. Most importantly, you are not the only dreamer who decided that New York would fix everything if you moved here to attain your financial and personal successes, but upon arrival realized you left your spine somewhere along the way.
But before the city is to be dismissed as one that ignores the plight of its citizens, I have noticed that it has its small moments of comfort. There has been the woman who called me “sweetheart” when I opened the door for her at Duane Reade. There has been the fellow nightclubber who apologized with a terse but sincere “Sorry, bro” after the only way to get through the place was to physically lift me a few inches off the ground and set me back into place. After a little more than 30 days in the city, I am already able to jokingly refer to places as “my home away from home”, such as the Laundromat down the road (they get mad when I turn on The People’s Court, but they’re nice enough and always help when my quarters get stuck), the pizza place that serves the finest I will ever have, and perhaps most fondly, there is the liquor store down the street, owned by a kind man of Asian descent whose ten-year-old son occasionally helps him out. Only in New York does a ten-year-old boy not only inform you of a declined debit card, he does it in a way that suggests this is nothing new for him.
New York is a place of natural congregation, from the foreign-born shop owner who dreams of prosperity to the Montana girl who dreams of stardom. Should one find the fortitude to go after such goals, this is the place to attain them. It is by no means easy to get noticed by New York, as she is impatient, busy and restless. But should we have the confidence to stand up for ourselves and attempt to catch her eye, we will find that she is also vibrant and giving -- and for those of us brave and bold enough to sit at New York’s table, she’s a friend indeed.