I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Adam and I went to NYC two weeks ago.  

We try to go once a year. 

We tend to do more than we should.  

And we spend WAY more than we should.  

But as I like to point out to people at work, we aren’t paying for college, braces, a third car, prom, trips abroad, travel sports, video games, laptops, school supplies, and a 2,500 square foot home.  

Cats are cheap. Plus, you they don’t expect to travel with you.

We went to NYC.  

And I missed two days of work.  

And there are people who come in, who wonder where I was two weeks ago, because I’m literally in the building 99% of the time.  

Tonight, a guest asked where I was. And I shared that I was in NYC. 

The following conversation has happened four or five times now.  

WOW. It’s a real shit show down there now.

The crime. The trash on the streets. The closed businesses. The homeless. We were just down there this fall, and it’s horrible. Disgusting. I can’t believe how much it has changed in the last three years.  

And I stand there, wondering, if they were really in NYC.

I lived there for 5 years. Moved away for 3. Then moved back for 6.  

Yes, it has changed.  

But.  

There are has always been trash on the streets. There have always been businesses closing. There has always been homeless people.  

And most of all.

It’s always been disgusting, which is single handedly, why everyone I know that lives there, lives there. 

I can’t speak for everyone, but most everyone I know gravitated to NYC, because they were looking for something. A career. Love. A hiding spot. Sanctuary. Freedom. Life. Safety.  

For me it was all of the above.  

So yes, it has changed.

But so has Maine. And Peoria. And Des Moines. And Tulsa. And Amarillo. And Los Angeles. And Seattle. And little Sadieville, Kentucky.  

And fun fact.  

Yes, a lot of places I used to love are gone. 

But the only real difference I can see in the city, is the addition of the outdoor seating pavilions that small and large restaurants alike have installed.  

Besides, who wants to go to city like NYC and not be a little disgusted.