Why is it that New Yorkers are so obsessed with New York? This is something that has bothered me for a while, people who feel it necessary to constantly talk about how they are from New York, or how hard core New York is.
I wouldn't be writing about if I was not so in hate with Joey from Top Chef, Season 3. He is constantly reminding us that he is from New York. Always talking about how other contestants wouldn't last in New York. Ok, we get it. You are a proud New Yorker.
Not only do New Yorkers love to boast about their hometown, they are also quick to disparage other cities. Newly arrived New Yorkers talk about how much they miss "the city" and how LA is just so suburban.
Living in Los Angeles I encounter the hate often, and not just from New Yorkers. Friends come for a visit and talk about how much they hate it-and that's before we've even gotten past the oil fields! Well, why don't they go the hell home? To steal from a comic I heard once, "we need the parking spaces."
A recent Los Angeles Magazine article points out how visitors are quick to judge a city that takes years to learn,
Nothing is more common than some interloper like Bernard-Henri Levy dragging his unbuttoned ego into town, spending a few days here (ideally at the Beverly Hills Hotel,) and then presuming to explain Los Angeles.
Another great quote from the article,
No major world city has been more sniffed at than L.A. Surely this is the only spot on earth where sunshine is routinely treated as evidence of moral vacancy."
I swing between wanting to defend my adopted hometown and wanting to let these people believe what they want to believe. We have enough people here. Why would I want to convince more to come?
3 comments:
Val...I want you to understand I love LA.
I agree, no more new people!
Well, one more person (a fellow Virginian no less) at least every once and a while?
once *in* a while.
oy. offering comments for two writers is nerve wracking. or is it nerve-wracking? or nervewracking?
sheesh, see?
2 comments.
First, I too hate those fat f#ck New Yorkers on Top Chef. We get it. Your intense, obnoxious New Yorkers. So what? That's your badge of honor? Why are they hiding behind this tough guy image. They come off as ridiculous caricatures. Learn some people skills you abrasive neandrethal f*cks.
Secondly, I also agree that New Yorkers think the world revolves around them. I've been to NY many times. It's a great city, no doubt. The greatest city in the world? In the US? You don't get out much then. Ever been to San francisco? Paris? Rome? What is so bad about LA? It doesn't reek like bum piss and garbage on every corner? We have beaches sans syringes. We don't freeze our ass off in the winter. If you don't like LA, get the hell out. There are plenty of us who do like it and don't need your whiney asses taking up space on our freeways complaining about how inferior LA is compared to NY. It's not NY and we're happy about that. So get over yourselves. Sorry to rant, but this is a pet peeve of mine as well.
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