This past weekend I took a weekend trip up to Boston for one of my brother's soccer tournaments. Among other things, this foray into New England reminded me of a few reasons why I chose to go to college in NYC over Boston.
First of all, the drive. There is absolutely nothing worse than planning on driving four hours only for traffic and Waze overestimations to extend the travel time to seven and a half hours. Screw you, Waze. Sometimes the app works like magic and takes you on some crazy backroads and you end up at your location in half the amount of time expected. However, the scenario where Waze ends up putting you on a route that makes no sense and turns a drive into the most frustrating thing ever happens a little to often for my liking. Anyway, if I had to make that drive every break to school, I would not be a happy camper.
The second aspect that was another reminder of my decision was the simple fact that NYC has more eye-catching attractions than Boston. Yeah, Boston is a historical and fairly clean city, which I like and respect, but walking around Manhattan (the most comparable borough of NYC to Boston) does not even compare to strolling about Boston. I know its two vastly different places and people can have whatever opinions they want, yet, if you think walking around Boston is better... I respect your opinion but you're just wrong.
Here's the last thing. The people are a little bit too nice for my fancy. Normally, walking around NYC, a slightly dirty glance is standard. It's almost a sign of respect. I see you looking at me, making a quick judgement, I look back, making sure there's no actual encounter is going to happen, and that's it.
There's no bad blood. We're just people going about our business. If you don't do this, a typical New Yorker is going to know you're not from the area. In Boston however, people look at you a little too long and if there's a smile, it's just too wide for some reason. You don't have any reason to be that happy to see me when you don't even know me. Maybe that makes me cynical but I like the way NYC is and I know deep down if I actually make that passing glance into an encounter, a New Yorker has no problem sending me in the right direction.
Don't get me wrong, Boston is a beautiful city but NYC is a better place to go to college. Sorry? Not really sorry.
