I read a fascinating article in the paper recently reporting that average clothing sizes are smaller on both coasts than in the interior of the US (based on retail sales, of course). Exactly why that might be true in New York is obvious, at least to me. New Yorkers are short. Or I should say, shorter.
This realization has dawned on me only gradually with the accumulation of New York experiences. For example, I have noticed that when standing among a group of people before an exhibit at a museum, I rarely feel the need to push people aside so that I can see. I simply look over the tops of their heads. And when watching a film crew in Times Square, I do not have to climb the pretty red steps to see what is going on.
Generally I have found it to be quite advantageous to be a corn-fed midwesterner seeing the sights in a town of short people. But then there's the crowded-subway experience, which is decidedly mixed for a tall person such as myself. On the one hand, unlike the little people around me, I can actually reach the upper grip bar, and therefore I never lack bar space for hanging on. On the flip side, I am expected to use the upper bar so the little people can use the vertical poles, which means my arms get tired. Furthermore, at the end of a long day of intense sightseeing in hot and humid weather, I am not immune from worrying about the little person with his nose pressed to my armpit on the subway.
2 comments:
Do you ever worry about pickpockets, etc. in NY crowds?
I occasionally think about it, but I don't worry about it. When Tash was here, someone came up from behind and tried to engage her in conversation and I confess, that was the first thing I thought of. I also carry a backpack, which I understand to be *un* secure -- almost as bad as a fanny pack. Still, it's too convenient to give up. I'm hoping to make it through the six months with no pickpocket experience.
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