April 18, 2009
A couple of days ago at work I was doing the crossword whilst
laboring over my charge: six gallons of coffee, some bagels and a boat
load of blueberry muffins. This particular crossword puzzle came to me
from the morning edition of the AM NY - the free paper they thrust upon
hurried New Yorkers as they emerge in the first light hours of day,
dreary eyed and oblivious, from the subway tunnels. I always take
advantage of grabbing a copy, namely to do said crossword. Anyhow,
under the puzzles, they usually post letters from readers responding to
inflammatory articles. I wish now that I had kept this particular copy
to reference because a woman from the Bronx was responding to the
allegation that New Yorkers aren't a friendly lot. Now, personally, I
find New Yorkers to be quite friendly in a loud, blunt, gesticulating
kind of way. But this woman's retort was that New Yorkers are plenty
friendly and if they don't look each other in the eye, "it's because
eye contact is a sign of hostility."
Now, I may be drawing an inappropriate conclusion here, but I
thought that humans had evolved beyond such nonsense, particularly in
civilized society. Does this mean that if I smile at a New Yorker, he
will assume that the baring of my teeth is an act of aggression and
then commence flinging his poo at me?
