Ich bin ein New Yorker! (Russia: salaries, living, trees)

[Sal Monella]

I am a New Yorker.

I thrive on diversity, culture, socializing and the sheer energy of living at the crossroads of the entire world. I enjoy meeting people from every conceivable corner of our planet and hearing every imaginable language spoken. I love tasting their foods, listening to their music and learning of their cultures. I love being able to say a phrase or ask for things in Russian, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Hebrew and Polish. I love seeing the smile on an arabic storetender's face when I greet him in his language.

I love change. I thank God for the sizzling summers because it elevates my appreciation of the beautiful Fall to come, when Central Park will be cloaked in a dazzling array of multicolored leaves featuring every extant shade of yellow, brown, and green there is. While I wait for better temperatures I can stroll the Village on beautiful balmy nights and/or take in any one of the dozens of on-going art performances, concerts and shows constantly featured thru-out the area. I'll find air-conditioned refuge in the museums, spending hours viewing the artifacts and legacies of every culture that ever was. I'll sit for hours at a sidewalk street cafe, watching the whole wide world parade past my outstretched feet.

I come to life in the middle of Winter, when the icy winds whip my face and serve to toughen me up again, reminding me that life too has it's ups & downs and of how valuable it is to learn to ride both on an even keel. I love seeing fresh fallen snow carpeting the city like in a fairy tale. When that same snow gets dirty and black from the soot I'm reminded of how ephemeral
the good things in life really are. A harsh winter also raises my appreciation of the upcoming Spring, when the trees and flowers of my city will again explode in a palette of colors and aromas. I like the occasional nauseous smells as well because they remind me of the ugliness & misery that often underlie life itself, hidden out of sight yet constant.

I love the intense rains that wash the city clean. I appreciate a beautiful sunny day that much more after 3 straight days of dark clouds & downpours. I love the wind funneling thru the buildings and swaying the trees.

I like people who speak their minds strong & clear. I appreciate being told to f*ck off if I deserve it & enjoy telling others to do so when they bug me. I like being around people who know the difference between when it's actually raining and when someone is peeing on your leg and telling you that it's raining.

Seeing poverty reminds me that it is a fact of life and it helps me appreciate my own personal good fortune that much more. It makes me conscious of the solidarity among mankind. It makes me want to help those I can and mitigates by own misfortunes when they inevitably arise, having seen these brave souls weather much worse.

I love the cops, who accept working for ridiculously low salaries and yet put 110% of themselves into their jobs anyway. Just because they're in love with my city too!.

I love the excitement & dangers of NYC, which keep me constantly on my toes and my brain fully in AWAKE! mode.

I LOVE NY.