Whether you're out to make it big through your weekly column Carrie Bradshaw style, or plan on following Samantha Jones' footsteps to the successful PR career, I'm here to hit you with a harsh reality. New York, although never capable of losing its glamour, is certainly different than its depiction from our beloved SATC sitcom.
After completing an editorial internship in New York City, I led a life significantly different from the Carrie Bradshaw lifestyle I had imagined. To break it down specifically, I noticed three major changes. First, it was the housing, then the absurd City prices, and finally the general transportation that forced me to realize the lives the characters in "Sex and the City" lead are fantastical.
Learning of my internship a month before I was expected to start was a shock. I knew I would have a harder time finding summer housing, but I didn't have a clue how screwed I was. After turning to Craigslist as a final resort, I dodged scam after scam until finally succumbing to an expensive sublet room on the Upper West Side. It started to make me wonder.. how could a journalist like Carrie Bradshaw afford her beautiful rent-controlled brownstone walk up on the Upper East Side? I started to wrap my head around the fact that I based my New York City expectations around a 90s fictional character; I was doomed from the start.
Via: vh1 Images
Next, those delicious hand-shaken cosmos served up in a posh lounge on every SATC episode? Yeah, that wasn't going to be happening for me. Instead, me and my fellow interns would look up two-for-one appetizer specials and end up in sketchier areas just to get reasonable prices. Unfortunately, in a place like New York, and especially Manhattan, you're not going to catch a break with a cheap drink: learn to appreciate your college towns for that.
Lastly, the simple glamour of walking down the City streets with your posh friends? Hate to break it to you, but this fantasy was overtaken by the 90-degree heat and City fumes that added a layer of soot to your skin as soon as you left your apartment. Not too sure how the ladies of SATC looked as glamorous as they did in the summer seasons, but I'm impressed. My commute to work did not involve a Lincoln town car; instead, I was crammed in with what seemed to be the rest of Manhattan for eight subway stops every morning and afternoon.
But hey, I'm not here to crush anyone's dreams about living in New York. I, still to this day, describe my summer in NYC as one of the best yet. My point in writing this piece was to inform all of you coming into the City with unrealistic expectations to tone down your fantasies. However, to counteract that to some extent, we should have high expectations for ourselves. Although moving to New York in our twenties might be less glamorous than we might originally expect, let's not forget about the way our favorite SATC girls lived. Let's make that the goal instead of the expectation.
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