Tourist on 5th Ave.
Tourists in New York have a bad rep: they’re everywhere, they’re slow, they stop in the middle of the stairs to the subway, they take too many pictures, and they’re just generally annoying. But I guess that might be a little unfair. They are new to the city and there are so many things to see, everywhere, all the time.
Before I moved to New York, my friend Teri told me not to look up when I walk around, because I’d look like a tourist. Real New Yorkers don’t look around, they walk straight and fast. This is how I walk on the way to and from work. (I work in Times Square, so ruthless walking is necessary here. Sometimes I think about carrying a bicycle bell with me and ring it every time I get stuck behind crowds of slow people.) But on weekends, I still feel like a tourist, even though I’ve been here for a year now. Sometimes I’d walk around and do what that guy is doing, stop completely in the middle of the street and look up. There are just so many cool things to see when I’m not too busy getting to and from places.
