But that's common knowledge.
I should be sleeping. Isn't that a Beatles lyric?
No one can be original with John and Paul in the mix.
I heard that this city was full of assholes.
That's true. I was assaulted, mildly, in my first fortnight here. The guy shoved into me in midday. I didn't know from where it came. It was an elbow from left field and I was scared. I bellowed, "I didn't do ANYthing," as I passed.
In that moment, though, I was bellowing to some guy I met on the street. We were discoursing on perspective. He said it's wasteful to not smile, to not laugh, to love the only life we've been given. He's damn right.
I was shoved in an ephemeral moment that I shared with a stranger. We spoke about how this city was full of assholes and he agreed. He's from here.
Portland is full of assholes, too.
They work in coffee shops and they care more about image than substance.
I mean, they work other places, but this is a statement about stereo(and mon0)typing.
There are the same people everywhere. And I think that's the thing about this place, the humbling effect of the city.
This place is the best Congress. There are representatives from every culture looking for everything.
This place is everything to everyone.
The word on the street are that the city's dirty and capitalistic. The people were mean, vengeful, and crime-hardened. The kids grow up with smoke in their face and go to college with white in their nose.
And that's true.
It's also not true, though.
That's just a overrepresentation of a small group that fills this place, and with that, New York is the world. We see the world as dirty and the people as mean and the kids as victims.
Have you read about the Nacirema?
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