New York cares

Last night G.F. and Y.T. talked about San Francisco. Y. said she wanted to return to SF to start over. G. and I both said that New York seemed to be the place people go to reinvent themselves. G. asked me about my oft-mentioned plans to move to SF myself. I said that SF is a place I want to move to to settle down. I then realized that all my friends in SF are married.

G. said that New York is a place always changing. She said that on a recent trip to D.C. she was asked by an interviewee if she had any children. She was taken aback. She said in New York the question never arises; it's understood that people are still living as if they are much younger. And always the question is how much longer you plan to stay in New York, as if it's understood that one's time in New York is limited. It's a place to come, succeed, and then leave. But therein, too, lies the pressure of the place.

When we parted, Y. asked if this is it. I leave on Tuesday for the Middle East and then California, not to return to New York until mid-June; she plans to move in early June. But then she said our conversation had given her a lot to think about. She hadn't yet heard it strongly from the other side. "Is this it?" she asked. She paused, then said, "Let's pretend it's not."

Listening to Interpol, "New York Cares." Posted by eku at April 25, 2004 10:13 AM