Gatherings, Travel, Uncategorized

New York Nice

47 Comments

We have been in New York City for  week, and all in our group are pleasantly surprised by how friendly and helpful people are here. One of our traveling companions is a former detective in our police department back home, who admitted that he was expecting violence and mayhem on every corner. His  Grade 12 daughter left her purse in a cab on their way to the symphony, and she managed to get it back the same evening  because the next passenger  turned it in. People in the long wait for the Macy’s parade saved one another’s spots for snack and bathroom breaks. People accommodated small, short children so they could better see the parade.  It has been refreshing.

What has restored your faith in people lately? 

47 thoughts on “New York Nice”

  1. everything but driving
    people are good deep down but they will cut you off in a second in the traffic out there
    enjoy people, catch them doing something nice and understand that they’re not messing around waiting for you to get your act together while they are driving

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  2. i met sol grunfeld at a trade show in chicago. we were in an area for folks to sit for a minute and rest in the middle of the show and check your phone or type your message or whatever

    i discovered he was a closeout buyer from brooklyn and i have worked with him for 6 months on a couple deals i have run across
    he is delightful, thoughtful and exactly what you would hope a person on the other end of a transaction would be
    i once heard nyc is not a big city but in fact a while bunch of small cities stuck right next to each other and it dramatically changed my perception and understanding of the place and the people
    i love new your

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  3. I remember when I went to Paris, I was worried about how the Persians would act. I had heard the general consensus that they were rude and obnoxious to Americans. I was pleasantly surprised. The Persians were very nice, the French in general very nice. They were a little rigid about things but they were nice while they were being rigid.

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      1. Ha ha. Using voice recognition this morning and didn’t even look to see if it had done anything weird. I’m running on about five hours of sleep …my flight got in at 12:30 AM last night (or should I say this morning) and the immigration lines took forever. But boy do I love crisp hotel sheets!!

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      2. i have a friend who was a mom on a sons baseball team. when i asked her about her heritage she said she was persian. i said where the heck is persia anyway ? she said iraq. we had a laugh it was in good old red eden prairie and im guessing she may have run into a little eyebrow raising when she was discovered as an infidel in the midst of the ep legion of honor

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        2. q,n, i always get those two mixed up in my mind

          north dakota south dakota

          north carolina south carolina

          north korea south korea … oh i guess that one does make a difference

          the others not so much to me

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    1. i dont think new yorkers have a problem with puffy white balloons even if they said some things in the past they may regret now
      i actually think he looks a lot like the 45 balloon

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  6. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    My human redemption story is this: On Thursday when the family gathered at my brother’s house in Iowa, not one person all day mentioned politics, impeachment, #45, the campaigning soon to overwhelm Iowans, or elections.

    It. Was. So. Pleasant. Just to gather and enjoy family.

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    1. We did have one fairly tone-deaf person started to talk about the death penalty. Luckily no one engaged her so she dropped it, Which kept me from having to weigh in big time. YA was watching me closely across the table and I think if I had started to speak, she might have kicked me.

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    3. my wife’s family are righties and they have the last couple visits kind of admit 45 is too much
      but they still say the other guys are just wrong

      i can’t be in the room when their stuff about politics start

      exactly who 45 has targeted

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  8. Frankly, I never lost faith in people. Individuals are NOT the problem. Organizations, institutions, corporations, bureaucracies are the problem. Ninety-five+ percent of people are good, kind, generous, polite, considerate (albeit to varying degrees) but the vast majority of our “news” reporting is what the bad 5% are doing, or what the majority of organizations, etc. are doing to unfairly get a bigger piece of the pie or their chunk of change before the Sh** Hits the Fan.

    Yes, I know that seems like a naive, rose-colored view of the world, but I choose to be uplifted by the numerous good I see every day vs. the small amount of bad that is forced down my throat.

    Chris in Owatonna

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    1. Let’s hear it for naive, rosy optimism!

      And let’s hear it for outstanding local writers. I don’t suppose you ever read your reviews, Chris, but on Amazon there are seven reviews, all of which give Straight River five stars (out of a possible five). Way to go!

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      1. Thanks, Steve. I DO read my reviews (but don’t stress over them) Actually, I’m up to about 12 reviews on Amazon. Trying to get more. Seems like so many are reluctant to review because they think their review has to be worthy of the NY Times Book Review. Pshaw! Just a few sentences about what you liked/didn’t like about the book–ANY book. Rank-and-file authors need a lot of reviews to gain legitimacy with the reading public. I’m shooting for 100 for each book. Have a long ways to go.

        Chris (Yes, I’m a rosey optimist about reviews too. 🙂 )

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    2. Yep – if the good stuff was reported as often as the bad stuff, the world would be an entirely different place… people’s beliefs, anyway. But it’s back to the money – what sells is the sensational, and what’s sensational is, mostly, the bad stuff.

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        1. i’ve heard the difference between right and left is fear vs compassion

          it’s not hard to stir up fear and create chaos

          it’s harder but much more pleasant to create massive peace on earth leanings but … the hallmark channel has unbelievable good ratings all for good news happy endings
          maybe they should try apppealing to next november’s mindset with peace on earth instead of ugly name calling
          worked great for my new state representative dean phillips

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  9. Some of the groups here whose meetings I attend… a Sanctuary group, a couple of churches who are making space in case shelter is needed, our Warming Center which now has some funding and isn’t run entirely by volunteers at this point. An interfaith council, our comfort choir, some good stuff going on at the universities (though I’m a little more vague on those.)

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  10. I had a discussion with a student here recently about how basically people are still good and will try to help you. She said it first speaking about traveling around the US. And considering she’s from Somalia, I thought that was pretty remarkable for her to say! I thought she’s got the kind of personality and friendship we need out there more.

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  11. I’ve seen several research projects that tested people’s ethics. Example: the testers drop a wallet loaded with cash where a stranger will find it. Hidden cameras record what that person decides (to keep or turn in the wallet). These projects consistently show that people are surprisingly ethical, and it seems to be the same if you run the tests in downtown Manhattan or Red Wing, Minn.

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  12. I generally find people helpful and kind, except on social media, and as tim points out, in traffic, you often see the worst in people. Of course you come across your occasional jerk, but in my life experience, the kind and helpful ones outnumber, by far, the jerks.

    One of the reasons I enjoy shopping at Aldi is that 25 cent charge for the shopping cart (which is refunded when you return the cart to its proper place). That 25 cent coin gives you an opportunity to interact in a friendly and helpful way with your fellow shoppers. From time to time I’ll offer my cart, free of charge, to someone entering the store. Surprisingly, they often protest, they don’t want it for free. I simply smile and say, please pay it forward.

    Shoveling snow is another opportunity for showing a little consideration for your neighbors. We have a snowblower, and once you get that thing onto the sidewalk, why not do your neighbor the favor? The morning of the “big” snow (8″), I woke up to see the Jesse, youngest son of our neighbor across the street, shoveling our sidewalk and entryway. I didn’t let on that I had seen him, nor did I offer to pay him, but he’ll get a little note of appreciation for Christmas along with a little something that he’ll appreciate. By and large we have great neighbors.

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    2. maybe what restores your faith is the opposite of the right thing
      jerzy kozinski is a favorite writer whose story the painted bird is based on his childhood trauma of being left to fend for himself as a jewish child in nazi germany morphed into being there a story of mans goodness in a forest gump sort of fundamental belief that good wins

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      1. thank-you so much that’s helps healing, love too speak with a jew like me who earned respect like Noemi Ban instead of we stay scilent for those with bad attitudes who break us, even discriminately years later I learn phosofically Why Does The Cage Bird Sing not just rape but blown judgments people now see respect

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