There is no place as diverse as NYC!

This morning as I arrived to work, the tragedy at the Empire State Building was unfolding. Just minutes earlier I was writing this post about how great NYC is, as I rode the subway in to work. These events only confirm how diverse NYC can be, and not always in a good way. Our prayers are with the victims of the shooting this morning. Let us remember though, in the face of this tragedy that NYC is more than just this tragic event.

Only in this great city can you be in one place with such a diverse group of people. There are not too many other places in this world where you can have nearly every culture and creed represented in one location at the very same time!  Let’s take a look at my commute this a.m.

To my left there is a man happily playing with his yoyo, doing the “walking the dog” and whatever other fun tricks these yoyo people do. He is continually entering other people’s ground and air space, clearly in violation of NYC train protocol, but hey, he’s happy with his yoyo.

Directly across from us both there is a Hasidic Jewish man trying to read his religious scriptures, yet he keeps looking at yoyo man. I can’t help but smile at the absurdity of this scene. It’s actually rather comical.  On one hand you have an extremely religious man, while on the other you have a man that is just as happy playing with his yoyo. Can you see the humor in that? Whatever makes you happy guys, it’s all good with me.

Enter some older gentlemen singing some tunes from the 50’s and 60’s as they pass us by with their hands out in hopes of making a few bucks. Sitting down we have a tattooed gentleman that appears to be slightly high off of something powerful and having a hard time finding an item that he is sure is in his pocket. (He continues to say so.)

And among the countless other faces crowded into this subway car you have me. Observing them all and writing on the more interesting scenes that I observe.

Sometimes I get tired of the hectic pace and life that I live here in NYC, and I have considered trading it in for a calmer life elsewhere. But don’t we all get tired of everything eventually?

One cannot deny, there is no place like NYC!