When Friends Come to Visit

I have friends in the city this weekend. My favorite thing about that is every one of my friends always begins by saying that they don't want to do anything too touristy. That they want to experience the "real" New York. Obviously that includes Urban Outfitters and H&M. THe funny thing about this is that I'm actually taking these things for granted at this point. I can go to those places all the time. Actually, more than that since usually I'm right beside one of hte other. The city seems to be run by these places. Clothing runs this city, in a lot of ways. It's much more important to be carrying a Coach bag than to have an actual apartment. Even the homeless people have nicer clothing than what you would think. Brands that I can't afford at this point. There's something about the status of clothing here that permeates the air.

It's difficult to explain when you don't live here. It's difficult to understand why a cashier at the Gristedes would spend her minimal paycheck on a pair of Seven jeans or Lacoste shirt, but I'm beginning to understand some of it. Movie stars of the fifties and sixties were required to sign actual contracts that stated they would always look good, that they would always be dressed to the nines with make-up and hair and wave and smile. You would never see them in their front yard picking up the newspaper in their bathrobe. Now when you look in US weekly or People you can see the stars coming from the gym in sweats or at the grocery store in a hoodie.

So we become used to living with these people, who are just that, with more popular jobs than we have. We become used to living in a magical world that doesn't seem real when you're not living in it. I'm always amazed when I go home how different it feels now. People driving in their cars to houses with yards and dogs, people mowing and washing cars and arguing over whether or not it's going to rain. Here people argue over who they see, if that guy really was Jason Bateman, if the woman with the baby was someone on the rise. Which means that when friends come to visit, it is only made more solid the kind of world you live in living in NYC. It truly is the most different experience you could ever have in the United States. I feel inspired.

And when they leave, you are left exhausted but with a renewed appreciation for things you had forgotten were really nice- a dog in a ridiculous sweater, the vendi man who knows who you, the chess match that goes on in Washington Square park nearly every weekend. It makes you more aware than ever of why you are living here instead of everywhere else.