Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-27-2010, 06:50 PM
 
25 posts, read 130,362 times
Reputation: 23

Advertisements

No.

Baghdad is a much tougher city.

Try getting through each day without being shot or bombed.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-27-2010, 07:11 PM
 
Location: Bergen County, NJ
9,847 posts, read 25,176,623 times
Reputation: 3628
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovecouture View Post
Like a lot of people I've always dreamed of living in New York City, so right now I'm seriously considering going to school there. I am from Vancouver, Canada and here I very rarely ever feel unsafe. Maybe it has to do with Canada's smaller population, but I always feel I have to be more on my guard when travelling through the US. It's such a chaotic and belligerent society. I remember going to Seattle one Sunday at a busy mall and I was in one particular clothing store that was pretty packed. The manager got into a shouting match with some girls she suspected of shoplifting (they had been complaining about the long lineup or something) and she very loudly ordered them to get out of her store, and then called mall security. She wasn't hush hush about it at all. She was not concerned with keeping some modicum of propriety and politeness. I guess I'm too used to being around polite and friendly Canadian folks. I kept thinking "This would never happen in Canada!" Life is so much tamer here.

But for the most part people were friendly enough, but Seattle ain't no NYC. If that's how I found SEATTLE, what in the world will NYC be like? (I've been to NYC but it was only for a day in touristy areas, but I imagine living and working there would be an entirely different experience.)

So what I would like to know is, am I going to get crushed if I don't steel myself, grow thick skin, and lose my Canadian inclination for geniality and adopt a more hardened outlook? New York is also the epicenter of weird people. I mean seriously, apparently New Yorkers find Californians to be too soft. I'm thinking Good God if they're considered soft how am I going to fare as a Vancouverite? (LOL I don't remember who said this but they were trying to illustrate how much more professional & cutthroat people were in LA compared to Vancouver because everyone wore SUITS to work and we were so uber casual here. )
The God darn honest truth is most NooYowkurs won't give a you know what as long as you stay out of their way...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-27-2010, 07:16 PM
 
12,340 posts, read 26,040,370 times
Reputation: 10351
One thing that still surprises me a tiny bit when I hear it is when train operators go on the announcement system and yell at the people who are holding the doors open. It starts as the normal announcement: Please stand clear of the closing doors. Then, if the doors are obstructed from closing for several seconds, each new annoucement is made in a louder and progressively annoyed tone of voice "Do NOT hold the doors open!!!" and it's broadcast throughout the entire train.

Perhaps it's necessary, as the train can't go anywhere if people are holding the doors open, and these announcements usually occur during rush hour when the trains are on a tight schedule. I don't mind the announcements, but I think my surprise comes from the same place the OP's came from when she heard the manager yell.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-27-2010, 07:29 PM
 
Location: Katonah, NY
21,192 posts, read 25,094,158 times
Reputation: 22274
I'm from the suburbs of Los Angeles and have now lived in New York for almost 12 years (has it really been that long!!!) - and I would not say that I'm hardened. I would just say that I've learned not to be such a pushover. Because I really was a pushover. If someone would run into me - I'd say "I'm sorry" even if it was clearly their fault. I'm still a nice person - but now I don't apologize for other people being rude to me.
I also have never felt unsafe here. Now, when I go home and visit my mom in the 'burbs (and we are from a very affluent, safe area), I get all nervous and uncomfortble because there aren't any people around. I get scared walking my dog at night in her extremely safe neighborhood because I'm the only one walking around!
Also, everytime I have an encounter with someone extraordinarily rude, the next person I have an interaction with is usually soooo nice that it restores my faith in humanity. No joke - I've had several experiences like that. And if you look at all lost or confused, I guarantee you someone will ask you if you need help within a few minutes.
I came here shy, scared, and nice - and now I'm more outgoing, confident, poised, and still - nice.
Coincidentally, the last time I was in Vancouver - I saw a purse snatching take place and a plain clothes cop chase the man down and tackle him in an alley. However, I wasn't really scared - I felt like I was in an episode of Law and Order!!! And I love Vancouver - I had an absolute blast there!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-27-2010, 09:40 PM
 
544 posts, read 1,521,692 times
Reputation: 350
I'm afraid I have to agree that it does harden quite a lot of things, at least expectations.

Just listen to that female bus driver, to the poor folk waiting slightly far from the stop sign: "OVER, THERE!!!!"
Or that female subway train operator yelling with the speaker: "This is No. X, LOCAL!! This No. X, LOCAL!!!!"

It's not hard to imagine how they yell at their kids.

I wouldn't expect the same in Canada or most other countries I've been to.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-27-2010, 09:41 PM
 
82 posts, read 315,237 times
Reputation: 84
Quote:
If that's how I found SEATTLE, what in the world will NYC be like?
It will be ten time worse, trust me.
When you want to know what New York is like don't ask New Yorkers, the view from inside is heavily distorted. You need to be able to look from outside, from a different vantage point to see what it is like. So ask those who lived in other places and then moved to NYC, they will be able to offer a fair comparison.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-27-2010, 10:34 PM
 
82 posts, read 315,237 times
Reputation: 84
Quote:
And if you look at all lost or confused, I guarantee you someone will ask you if you need help within a few minutes

More likely, somebody will ask you if you had a spare change or give you a discount coupon to a nearby eatery.
I didn't see people volunteering to help here in New York. When I had a problem with my car on that awful Van Wyck, nobody stopped to offer help. An off work policemen stopped looked at me and said I was fine there on the shoulder. It was a simple thing, I had to walk a mile to the nearest gas station to buy a coolant, nobody offered me a ride. I remember my wife got a flat tire on 101 in CA, and called me being very upset, and while I was arranging for help, she was already helped by a free freeway service I wasn't even aware existed. A guy changed the tire and handed over a card that you can mail, indicating if you were satisfied with the service!
Another example, when talking to a bank officer in CA and he would make a mistake, he would apologize and fix that. He would ask me if I needed anything, offer coffee or something to drink. My first visit to the Manhattan branch of the same bank was shocking. The lady instead of taking my printed information, made me to write it all down on their forms, then she mistyped it, I pointed to the errors, and with hostility in her voice she said it was all my fault, my handwriting wasn't clear. Now I would rather call my bank in CA then going to one of the local branches.
I found absolutely every service in NYC to be rude, inefficient, and inferior quality.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2010, 12:15 AM
 
Location: Katonah, NY
21,192 posts, read 25,094,158 times
Reputation: 22274
cali4ever - What can I say - we all have different experiences. Most New Yorkers don't drive - so I really don't have a lot of experience on the roadways. All I know, is that I looked confused in my own neighborhood one time (because I came out of a store I had never been in and couldn't remember if had been on the west side of the street or the east side - pathetic, I know) and a man came up and asked me if I was lost. And he was very sincere.
Another time, I was at Port Authority and I had about 3 pieces of luggage with me, I was tired, sweaty, and having a hell of a time with all my luggage. I had only lived here for a few years at that time and was about 24 or 25 years old. I was trying to get from one building to the adjacent building because my bus was leaving from the other building, and I was about ready to cry. This man (I think he was a bum) came up and helped me with my stuff (this is the bad part of the story - just so you know). I thanked him - and he informed me that he wasn't doing this for free. Well, I was so stressed out at this time - I was okay with it. When we got to the bus line, I realized that all I had was a 10 dollar bill. We were right near a kiosk - so I asked him to go get 2 fives and I would give him one of them (this was back in 2000 - $5 was a lot to me then). We took the 10 and left the building. Of course, STUPID me for giving him a 10. Anyway, I was still looking after him, naively thinking he might come back, and this other guy in line told me that he watched him walk out the building. After I bought my ticket, the guy in line came up to me and told me that he felt really bad that the guy had taken my money- and he gave me a 10. So - just when I felt like I had had it with mankind - this guy in line restored my faith in humanity. And stuff like that just seems to happen all the time.
I'm not saying that every single person is nice here - or that the overall vibe is as friendly as other places - I just think that, once you get used to life here (if you do get used to it - I know I have), that there are just as many wonderful and kind people as there are bad people.
And I'm from California and went to school in Michigan - and New York is definitely the place I call home.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2010, 02:19 AM
 
Location: Brooklyn
243 posts, read 1,331,045 times
Reputation: 540
I find it comical to read people actually complaining that the conductors on the trains tell people to stand clear of the doors when they block them during rush hour. Yet - I'll bet the same individuals also complain that trains aren't on time and the MTA this and the workers that ... Conductors and Train Operators (two different jobs , not interchangeable) actually DO try and move the trains quickly. In fact , if someone gets a reputation as being a slow conductor or train operator , nobody wants and work with them. Typical damned if you do and damned if you don't. As a motorman I don't talk on the intercom much , and I agree that yelling and screaming over it is babyish and shows a loss of control but that rarely happens. When someone holds or blocks the doors and I have a conductor that gives them a little hell for it , without going overboard , I say it's deserved. Also let's our riders know they're not late because of us. And most of them like hearing it to because they're rightly pissed off that two or three selfish idiots are holding up a packed train.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2010, 05:44 PM
 
3,210 posts, read 4,597,248 times
Reputation: 4314
NYC will make you tougher in a social sense. 9 million people from everywhere packed into one city is bound to do that.

Having said that, come on down here to Philly, and I'll show you a place that'll turn the sweetest wallflower into a violent, disrepsectful thug.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top