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Posted By: Chad

You really have to have a brusque exterior or you'll get bothered a lot. I'm a Californian but I learned quickly how to put on the New Yorker facade so that I wouldn't get harassed by people with flyers, or the Falun Gong, or panhandlers, or just those who are slightly wacko and want to draw you into a conversation about how Mayor Bloomberg stole the election from their buddy Fred. It's not that we have more crazies than other places, it's just that it's so dense with people, that you run into them a lot more often. Also, because there's so many people here, a lot of New Yorkers go into a kind of zone in which you create your own mental space so that you don't feel overwhelmed by it all. When I'm in this zone, and a tourist asks me directions, it takes me a minute to gather myself, as if I've just been wakened. Next time you visit NYC and ride a crowded subway, watch how carefully people avoid eye contact and physical contact with each other. It's a freakin art form!

--Chad