Everything in New York City is different from every other city in its scale. London has its old world charm and LA has its tremendous sprawl along the coast. But New York impresses itself upon the mind with its soaring skyline, underground maze of subways, and density of people. I not longer give a second thought to working on the 40th floor of a Times Square building. As the elevator runs express from first floor to 30th, my ears pop and I have to swallow hard to break the tension. The only other times my ears pop are on flights and when I used to drive up the steep Rocky Mountains. Comparing a building to the magnitude of the Rockies or air travel seems ludicrous but it fits in scale.
Last week provided two perfect examples of the surreal nature of living in such a densely packed city. On the subway ride to my internship, I ran into my old boss from my days as a sales associate at the Banana Republic. I've also stumbled across three different Hamilton alums in Times Square alone. In a city of eight million people, the likelihood of riding in the same subway car as my former boss seemed very remote but when you consider the amount of people you see on any given day, those numbers are drastically reduced. Sometimes I wonder if I'll see all eight million residents in my four months here just because everyone is in constant motion, using the same modes of transportation, and exploring well-traveled areas.
The other event was far more remarkable because it's been the center of much of controversy lately. Janet Jackson, in her first performance since the infamous Super Bowl revealing, performed in Battery Park last Wednesday for Good Morning America. Her stage was set up directly across from our apartment and Becky Lee worked the morning concert for ABC. As my roommates and I stood at the open window in our apartment listening to Janet belt out the lyrics and watching the tiny figures dance on the stage, I remembered that two months ago we all sat here at our apartment's Super Bowl party watching Janet's infamous halftime show concert. Who would have thought that I would be watching a live Janet Jackson concert across the street? In a city that moves so fast that it is impossible to keep pace, it absolutely floors you when things wrap around and force reflection upon the busy population.
