Sep 13 2008
New York City: Pick up the Pace!
If you’re traveling to New York City for your vacation, and you don’t live in an area that has a fast pace of life, then you’re in for quite a culture shock. If you’re coming from West Coast of the US, or one of the Southern States, or even from overseas then prepare to be treated with hospitality, but it’s hospitality on drip fed espresso!
When you first arrive in NYC you need to be prepared to interact at a pace that’s quicker than what you’re probably used to. New Yorkers are people who welcome visitors but they expect you to know where you’re going – even if it’s just a hotel name and a street location! So make sure that before you get off the plane, or out of the train, you have a note with your accommodation address on it so that you can pass this to your cab driver (New York cab drivers are currently notorious for not having good English skills so it may save a lot of frustration – not to mention time with a taxi clock running) if you just hand the address over rather than rely on language ability!
If you go into a restaurant for breakfast or dinner, don’t expect to linger more than necessary. If you do, be prepared for some strange looks from the restaurant staff! They are used to people coming in, staying as long as it takes to finish their meal and leave. Slowly stirring your coffee whilst staring out the window is going to mark you as a tourist! And there’s another thing – coffee. If you want coffee, make sure you know what to order before a member of staff asks for it! Normal coffee is usually “regular” coffee, anything more than that and you’ll need to read the board or menu to find out what it’s called. Staff are often faced with a large queue of impatient customers collecting coffee to go, and if you hesitate when placing an order, they’re likely to pass over you and ask the person behind you what they want – trust me, this happened to me on more than two occasions (I don’t usually make a mistake a third time!). So be prepared to deliver your order in terminology the restaurant staff understand and you’ll be fine. You’ll also get a more sincere smile if you give the right money or tell them to keep the change!
A final note on the pace of life in New York is to watch out for traffic. Just because the crossing says “Go”, it doesn’t necessarily follow that there won’t be a car come speeding around the corner and try to run you over! These car chases on TV aren’t just scripted, they actually happen in Manhattan, only the drivers are just regular people going somewhere fast. Many sidewalks are quite high in relation to the roads in Manhattan so be prepared to step way down and then continue watching the road carefully as you cross, especially if the crossing is beside a turn in the road! Don’t dawdle across the road, the road crossing systems aren’t programmed for sightseers, they’re programmed for fit people late for meetings or on their way to deliver emergency first aid so if you take time to glance at the Empire State Building, or realize that you’re beside Macy’s, you’re likely to get beeped at by an impatient driver because the lights have already changed. Note: wide road does not mean more time for crossing, it means walk faster!
The pace of life in NYC is part of its appeal. It offers a vast contrast to how many of the visitors are used to living (do New Yorkers think the rest of the world runs in slow motion?) but you soon adapt and find that you can live at that pace – at least for a little while. It’s all part of the excitement and color of that vibrant place known as New York City!
3 Responses to “New York City: Pick up the Pace!”
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I have to say that’s one of the aspects of New York that I didn’t enjoy. It was just a bit too frenetic and people were just a bit too stressed. I am just not used to it!
Tell me about it! I arrived in NYC the first time having spent 3 weeks in the “Deep South” (where getting a cup of coffee takes forever because the staff behind the counter are so friendly) and then 2 days on Amtrack. If it hadn’t been for the fact I had Broadway tickets that first night, I’d of seriously considered jumping back on the train and heading south again!
Hahaha! i can imagine that would have been quite a shock. I love the laid-back Deep South attitude.