SWF seeks the City

If you have ever been to New York, I am sure you remember the first sight of the city. It’s so much more than what you ingested from countless episodes of Sex and the City but at the same time you feel like you’ve been there before. My first trip ended a summer which I considered to be independent and life-changing. An internship at a magazine in Philadelphia took me 1300 miles from home and seemed to hurdle me across the barrier into my adulthood. Now the summer at a close, I was going to hop on my first train and meet family in New York City and celebrate my 21st birthday. Trains seem so antiquated to me. It took me to a decade I have only learned about in history books. I felt like Mary Tyler Moore as I trucked up the underground stairs into the city for the first time. I was independent and ready for adventure. But I had no hat to throw. The city was tall, at least taller than I imagined it to be. It made me feel minuscule and child-like. After standing in awe for a few seconds, I regrouped. I wouldn’t let myself look like a tourist. I think the suitcases and Phillies t-shirt gave it away though. The masses whipped around me like the wind, never staying around long enough to really experience it but I felt it rush by so I knew it was there. The street names were more familiar than many I would find in my own hometown. Park and 5th Avenue. Madison. Time Square. The intoxicating smell was a mixture of food and garbage. And I couldn’t get enough of it. Why did it matter that I was finally standing on this particular blacktop? Or staring at a certain brick and mortar? It didn’t make me different. But it did. There is a certain spirit in New York. One of struggles, victories but never complacency. Few New Yorkers were born but many were transplanted to the city to find exactly what they couldn’t find somewhere else. The options are endless. If you are bored with being a broker on Wall Street, you’re only a few streets away from Broadway. If you’re tired of American cuisine, there's a Greek restaurant two doors down. You don’t have to settle for less because more is usually snapping at your heels. Maybe this blacktop is different because New York is seen as the pinnacle. The phrase “if you can make it here you can make it anywhere” must have stemmed from this idea. You only “arrive” once you reach New York and until then, your simply in purgatory waiting for your turn. But some people only needed a visit to quench that hunger. When I left the city a few days later, I was ready. I had gotten what I needed. Like a much needed pep talk, I took the feeling with me. It was my encouragement to not settle for complacency. And any time I forget I just remember the smell of food and garbage.