It’s Monday morning. You walk outside of Grand Central and step on a pile of sauerkraut. It’s crunchy, smells horrible, and is all over your freshly polished shoes. What do you do? Nothing. You barely react. Maybe you give it a quick wipe on the edge of the sidewalk, but that’s about the extent of it. This is one of many typical events that happen to a New Yorker on a daily basis. Actually, never mind a daily basis, it’s more like an hourly basis.
New York is filthy. Honestly, it’s one of the dirtiest cities in the world. There’s garbage covering the streets (including remnants from our favorite hot dog street carts), men using old telephone booths as urinals, and let’s not even begin to explore the grim and foulness of the subway. I mean, have you ever sat on a seat that didn’t have a stain on it? People walk at 60 mph paying no mind to anyone around them. Sadly, the sidewalks are clustered with people who always need help, whether they’re in need of a meal or may have just gotten knocked over by some crazy shopper with a large suitcase stuffed to the brim. And yet, New Yorkers just walk on by. There is no second thought given to their surroundings, and no mind paid to it.
In all of its grime and glory, we love New York City. For every piece of garbage there’s something else to be found that is greater and grander than anything one can find in any other city. With that said, we can’t help but wonder for a second here and there, if New Yorkers even realize what their city is like. Therefore, we pose this question: Are New Yorkers desensitized to their surroundings? Is this a good thing, bad thing, or neither— maybe just a New Yorker thing?
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