August 2011
1 post
House Guests
Situation: A friend from out of town will be staying at your apartment for a few days.
If this was New York: As soon as the subject comes up, you go into full scale event planning mode that most people reserve for their wedding. You clear your schedule. You consider any work-related deadlines that might fall during that time, and try to move up the deadlines so you wont have extra stress...
April 2011
4 posts
Going to the Park
Situation: It’s a gorgeous day, so you and a friend go to walk around the park If this was New York: You and your friend set a very specific location at a landmark near the park as a meeting point, trying to avoid the confusion of finding each other among the crowds of people. You get to the land mark at the specified time. You figure your friend is running late, so you keep standing there...
Getting Ready for Bed
Situation: Your day is done, and you are ready for some sleep.
If This was New York: It’s about midnight, but you’re still so wound up from your day that going to sleep seems impossible. Still, the hours between midnight and seven AM are the hours you put on your schedule for sleep, so you have to honor that or else the rest of your week is going to be screwed up.
You start by...
Going to the Post Office
Situation: You have a package to send to someone, so you go down to your local post office.
If this was New York: Before you leave your house you pick up the package to see how heavy it feels. This is an important step because you know you’re going to be holding it for a long time. If it feels light, you walk out the door. If it feels heavy, you might put it into a bag so it can hang...
Getting a car fixed
Situation: You have some car trouble, so you take your car to a garage to have the repairs done.
If this was New York: The first thing you do is ask friends for recommendations of where to go. Then you realize that you are the only one of your friends that has a car in the city to begin with, and then you question how many of these people are your friends because of of your car ownership.
...
March 2011
6 posts
Getting Coffee
Situation: It’s 7:34 AM and you want to get a cup of coffee before going to work.
If this was New York City: You walk into a local coffee shop- if you live in Manhattan this is almost certainly a Starbucks, and in Brooklyn it’s an independent place. As soon as you walk in you realize that you haven’t actually spoken to anyone yet that day, and you realize just how...
Going to the Beach
Situation: It’s a gorgeous summer Saturday, and you and some friends decide to spend it on the beach.
IF THIS WAS NEW YORK: It’s common to bring a book to the beach, but you bring two because you know you’re going to need one for the 2+ hour trek on the subway to get there and back. Once you arrive at Coney Island, you fight the crowds to get to the boardwalk.
Once on...
Greenmarket Shopping
Situation: You decide to spend an afternoon leisurely perusing the local Greenmarket, checking out local food and meeting local farmers.
IF THIS WAS NEW YORK: You arrive at the Greenmarket to find it eerily similar to a cattle round-up: throngs of people are being pushed through a funnel of a walk-way in between various stands. You squeeze through to check out apples, only to have an elderly...
Camping
Situation: You and some friends want to go camping about two hours away from where you live.
IF THIS WAS NEW YORK: No one owns a car, so you all have to chip in to rent one, or invite along someone you don’t like as much so they can drive. You book the campsite several months in advance.
After getting in the car and surviving the stress of just getting out of Manhattan, you drive for...
Getting Delivery Food
Situation: You have come home from a long day or work and don’t have the energy to focus on cooking, so you call for something to be delivered.
IF THIS WAS NEW YORK: You would have to take a deep breath and work up the courage to call. The phone rings a couple times, and then your ear is blasted with the loud sounds of the restaurant. Whoever is on the other end yells a couple words at...
Dinner Parties
Situation: You go to the store to get food to make dinner for some friends. They come to your house, maybe bring a bottle of wine, and everyone enjoys an evening of talking and eating the food you made.
If this was New York: You’d take a deep breath before walking out the door and going to the grocery store. The aisles are tiny and they don’t have many items, sometimes as simple...
February 2011
3 posts
The Winter Months
Situation: The weather report says that San Francisco might get a dusting of snow today.
IF THIS WAS NEW YORK: Leaving your house is sort of like suiting up for a walk on the moon: Several layers of garments over your normal clothing, a pair of boots, some kind of hat and scarf so that minimal skin shows. You have your work shoes in your bag.
If you own a car, you will consider...
Getting a Beer
Situation: The guys across the hall invite you out for a mid-week beer.
IF THIS WAS NEW YORK: You’d be asked to pick up the first round. Being a good person, you do this. Very quickly, the conversation would turn towards something very personal on your neighbors part, either about their bizarre health condition or about their complications with their trust fund or other income that means...
Mass Transit Customer Service
Situation: I tried to get on BART this morning, but my Clipper Card (like a Metro Card) wasn’t working. The agent in the booth saw that I had a problem, and was waiting for me when I got to the booth with a smile on her face., she looked at the card, said it was fine, and had me try another turnstyle.
IF THIS WAS NEW YORK: I would have stood at the turnstile for a couple of seconds,...
