Miles from Fenway: Disproving Stereotypes

One of the stereotypes of New Yorkers that has always bugged me is that we're all cold, unfriendly people. Yes, the "hurry up" culture is very prevalent here, but we're all just like any other group of people. There are good and bad.

For example, I work in a 13-story building in NoHo. 12 of those floors are occupied by the offices of various non-profit organizations. The top floor is actually a penthouse apartment, occupied by a woman I've never met. All I know about this woman is that she owns a dog and that her dog-walker is not what you would call the friendliest of women. Here she is with these adorable dogs all around her and she scowls at everyone. God forbid you try to pet one of the dogs. She's the kind of New Yorker that gives the rest of us a bad name. The kind who's constantly brushing past you, power walking to some unknown destination, and probably swearing under her breath when, God-forbid, a tourist asks her for directions.

But then there are women like Joanne, who a coworker and I met this morning. As we are standing outside our building, we see these two HUGE St. Bernard looking dogs walking down the street. We immediately started cooing, which was caught by their dog-walker. Joanne asked if we'd like to pet them, which of course we did. For five minutes or so we pet these super friendly dogs and talked with Joanne, who, after finding out we worked for the non-profit that employs us both, offered us her card and asked us to contact her so she could make a donation to us.

See, not all New Yorkers are insensitive pricks!

Labels: NYC

posted by FINY @ Wednesday, July 12, 2006

4 Comments:

At 7/12/2006, WelshSoxFan said…

She was probably from New Hampshire
At 7/12/2006, Esther said…

That was really sweet of Joanne. And the dogwalker from upstairs simply has a stick up her ass.
At 7/12/2006, Anonymous said…

Next time you see that dog walker (not Joanne, the first one), you can yell out "Hey look, there's that bitch!" If she says anything, just say that you were talking about one of the dogs.

Or. Even better.

Next time you see her walking the dogs, yell "Hey! What are you doing with that pig?" When she says "These are dogs, not pigs," just say "I was talking to the dogs!"

Ah. An oldie, but a goodie.
At 7/12/2006, kate.d. said…

imagine having two st. bernards in a new york city apartment. christ, you'd need a penthouse.