Thursday, June 17, 2010

Symptomatic of a City Slicker

Well it seems like it's that time of year again. Although the weather has been surprisingly cool so far, summer in New York has arrived. There are several rules that over time one learns to adhere by, for example, don't eat at a hot bar after 2 PM, invest in a great pair of flats, and ALWAYS try to leave the city as much as possible during the summer.

Everyone has until 2PM on Friday, the official start of corporate summer hours, then the city inhabitants become Moses and the Israelites by getting the fuck out of dodge. It became evident to me pretty quickly that all the downsides of being in the City are just compounded during the summer. When the sweltering temperature starts rising, the congestion, the garbage and the noise is enough to make you want to hitch hike along the FDR just to get out of this god forsaken place. If financially possible one should always have travel plans or gather friends to head out to the Hamptons or the Shore or if you are slutty enough, start banging someone who has access to the Hamptons or the Shore...ew gross the Shore, forget I suggested that. With all the amazing things I can boast about life and the advantages of living in the city, summer is not at the top of the list. Once I get out for a weekend, I always start questioning what compels me to come back. This time of year is when we all have to honestly pay our dues. The reality is, New York has marketed itself with everything it is able to provide just as much as what it can't. That's how crowding assholes to elbow on roof top and paying $15 a cocktail all of the sudden becomes a privilege. During this time of the year, we must come face to face with our extreme lack of perspective, and it's typically pretty ugly when that happens. For instance, how is it that access to a tiny rooftop for fresh air is mark of high status when the rest of the country has acres in it's backyard?

I was recently granted the rare opportunity to leave the city to enjoy a weekend away in the countryside of Bucks County Pennsylvania. I was with a great group of friends and it was such a gift to experience the beauty and splendor of nature as if it were the first time. All those months and years in the city has numbed that spark and seeing an incandescent shower of fireflies in complete silence illuminated that familiarity. There are those life long New Yorkers who love it so much that they NEVER leave, I couldn't be one of them any more than I can see myself as an Alabama native. I want it all, my life in the city and the option to admit that it sucks, why not? Isn't that what makes me truly fit to be a metropolitan gal?

When I returned from the weekend. My senses were assailed with the riotous noise of traffic and the Puerto Rican Day parade...AAaarrghh Viva Boriqua but honestly it sucked balls, give me the country for a few more days. The city's voice during these moments are honest and brash, it doesn't pretend to be anything else. The questions that beckon it's inhabitants of why we stay here are perennial but honestly the answer is the one thing that binds us all.