These Boots are Made for Walking...and Leaving Behind

There are three things New Yorkers are better at than anyone else in the country: Staring, spitting and generally getting in the way.

I don't know what it is about this place, in Madison you would be lucky if one person in a hundred made eye contact with you on the street. Here, not only do they make eye contact, they make eye lock. Maybe I'm just being sensitive, but it's enough to make me feel like there's a gigantic pimple on my forehead. Perhaps if I were famous I could understand the blatant stares, but I'm not famous, not even remotely, and the constant oggling is enough to drive me batty.

The gawking is one thing; the spitting is an entirely different level of disgust. In general, I don't like judging people because (and let's be honest here), who could stand up to the same level of scrutiny? It's impossible to live up to the same expectations we place on other people, our heads would explode. In this instance however I believe I can genuinely say I think I stand head and shoulders above the average New Yorker. Spitting is a pastime here, and people hone their skill as if they were trying out for the majors. How people produce so much saliva I'll never know, but there seems to be an endless well from which to draw.

Finally, and I'm not sure this one requires an explanation, there's the general getting in the way. Just try getting onto the subway at rush hour to see what I mean. Doesn't matter if you are the first one at the door, some little old lady will push her way in before you. Most people here have the "me first" mentality. Generally this means getting stuck behind someone walking waaay too slowly on the sidewalk or getting pushed from behind by someone walking waaay too fast. The middle ground exists only in Middle America.

Now I'm not saying it's all bad here, just ask the average New Yorker for directions and they will usually try to help (this surprised me the first time I came here). Perhaps the staring is simply their way of trying to connect to each other, creepy as it may be, and the spitting may be a harmless way marking territory...which I much perfer over the urination method. The pushing, shoving and getting in the way is probably just the mindset of the East Coast - and not merely localized here. All in all, it's still a fairly pleasant place to be.

Anyway - I found these abandoned boots on 2nd Ave. and 19th street. Can't say I blame them, look at those heels. They look like devices of torture and I wouldn't want to walk around the cement sidewalks in them either. Still, it's kind of sad to see them alone like this, kind of like they're huddling together for warmth.