Letter to New York

Dear New York,

Right after moving here, I received some great advice from my high school friend Scott. He explained that living in the City is a lot like being in a relationship. It may pull you down some days, but if you’re good to it, it’ll be good to you.

We’ve certainly had our ups and downs over the years. I’ve never experienced such a flippant sense of love for a place. You’ve sure taught me a lot though—that can’t be denied.

One thing that I’m struggling with in my fourth-ish year here is the utter sense of hate I’m seeing. It’s around every day. A woman screaming at her crying infant to “shut up;” the injustice on the streets; angry people on crowded trains, pushing each other around like pinballs, not human beings. It’s like we’ve forgotten that we’re people first, deserving of a little kindness.

It’s frustrating to witness these things and not know what to do about them. Gruffness is a part of our culture here. Sometimes it’s needed for survival in a fight or flight circumstance. I understand and respect the hardness, but see a line being crossed lately.

I keep wondering if we are just being mean for the sake of being mean or if we are hurting some how and taking it out on one another. Maybe it’s both and kind of reminds me of the cliche: sometimes we hurt the ones we love the most.

I’m not sure on what else to say except that I want to find ways to break the cycle, to interrupt the hate. Especially given the circumstances in our world right now, this should be our call to action, to take steps toward recognizing each other. To really take a moment to stop and say hello, to hold open a door and even learn our barista’s name. There’s only today and we should support each other in it.

 

 

 

 

 

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