Good Ole New York City
August 31st, 2003I'm deeply proud with my home city. New York City.
It survived a major terrorist attack and a blackout. Despite popular opinion, New Yorkers didn't riot, look, and pillage their own city. New Yorkers didn't lie down and give up.
They banded together like brothers and sisters, cooperating and sharing with one another to get through each crisis.
New York City has always gotten the reputation of being a hard-edged, cold city rife with crime and rudeness.
Then Major Giuliani, though angering many liberals and low-income taxpayers, came in and decreased the crime rate significantly. Former red-light districts like 42nd Steet became family centers.
When the World Trade Center was destroyed, hundreds of New Yorkers volunteered alongside the city workers to help find survivors. New Yorkers, formerly known as some of the coldest and rudest people in the world, became the some of the warmest and kindest.
The stories I read about volunteers making food, bringing clothes, and helping out in any way they could for the city workers made my eyes water.
In one story, a woman saw a tired young fireman shivering in the cold. He was too tired to get a heavier coat. So she took off her sweater and gave it to him. He smiled; that was the first smile she'd seen all day, and she broke down and cried in his arms.
When the blackout happened, many feared riots and looting in NYC. Instead, New Yorkers came out of their houses and had neighborhood BBQs. Children opened fire hydrants and played in the streets. Foot Locker gave away sneakers to hundreds of commuters who had to walk home.
It was the second time New Yorkers had to walk over Manhattan's bridges to get home. But they did so civilly and with dignity.
These are the people who are supposed to be hard-edged, cold, and rude. Hard-edged, cold, rude people don't give their belongings away; they don't help each other out and hold neighborhood BBQs.
New Yorkers are anything but hard-edged, cold, and rude.
I'm proud of my city. Good ole New York City.
Are you proud of New York City?
