As for this past weekend, you should check out Caitlin and my facebook pictures, because I'm not going to write about either of those weekends right now. I'm going to write about what's going on right now.
I haven't been very fair to New York City since I've been here. I've allowed myself to blanket New Yorkers with the stereotype that they are all cold and unfriendly, but that really isn't the case at all. In just the last few days I've had some surprisingly wonderful interactions with strangers.
Friday night I walked and talked with a girl who needed directions to Humbolt, and I told her I wasn't sure but that I thought it was just a few blocks ahead. I told her I wasn't sure because I've only been here for a month and a half, and we chatted about my internship and it turned out she was an NYU grad and aspiring actor from Lexington, Kentucky. As we walked together, it turned out I was right and we did get to Humbolt! She was super nice and very thankful for the help.
Just yesterday I made a comment to a woman in the elevator and she actually told me to have a nice day as the doors opened on her floor.
These kind of things are minor, but they've shown me that when you can break that initial barrier, New Yorkers can actually be very friendly and pleasant. Walking to work every morning, I pass by plenty of people on the sidewalk in my neighborhood, and I have been frustrated that no one ever looks you in the eyes when you pass by them. I've really wanted to dole out a few Good mornings on my walk to work, especially on bright, beautiful mornings like so many we've had in the last week.
Well, today I decided to just start saying "Good morning" to strangers, regardless of whether they'll look me in the eye or not. In the first day of this experiment, I had some interesting results.
First, I said good morning to an old woman carrying bags and walking next to the corner grocery. Much to my surprise, as we walked toward eachother, she actually did look me in the eyes, allowing me to smoothly and happily say "morning" to her. She smiled a toothless crooked smile and gladly responded with a "morning" of her own. My first subject was a success! I was filled with instant joy; this could actually be fun.
Next up was a middle aged woman who refused to look up and make eye contact. As we passed I said "Good morning" and she responded with a high-pitched and very surprised "Good morning" of her own, but she didn't turn around at all or look at me. Her surprise made me laugh as I kept walking.
Finally, as I got closer to the subway, I walked toward an older man who did not look very pleasant or happy, and as we passed I quickly gave him a good morning. I noticed he turned around to look at me, so I turned around to find him looking at me with a huge smile and a seriously confused look on his face. He did not say a word and turned and kept walking. It was great.
So I'm not actually conducting any kind of crazy experiment where I'm really trying to mess with the minds of hardened New Yorkers, I'm just trying to look at the world with a different lens. Maybe somehow I can just have a tiny impact on this city.
Now, I know some mornings I won't feel like putting any effort into saying anything to anyone, but I do hope to keep this up as much as I can. Some people might give me weird looks. People might just ignore me completely. Regardless, It's fun to have a little mission while walking to work. The responses I got helped make my day fun and interesting, and if nothing else, I made a few people smile.
Who knows where this will take me in the next month. I hope to stay relatively motivated in this "experiment," and I'm stoked to see what kind of results come out of this.
Before I go, here is one picture from this past weekend. This is me sitting with a duck listening to Hans Christian Andersen tell us a story in Central Park on Saturday night. Good times.
I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all.
2 comments:
you're great. this weekend was great. :)
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