if there is one myth about new yorkers that won't ever quit, it's this: new yorkers are simply the rudest in the universe.
and I made it my unenviable task, no, crusade, to disprove this to two of my genteel manila friends.
over the weekend, these polite people who have imbibed all the graciousness of heartland illinois (where they now work) flew to my adoptive city to soak some art at the park. you know, the jarring christo installations.
fresh from getting off their hotel elevator, I immediately bombarded them with my diatribe against the so-called purveyors of this bad rap against my foster city. my friends cut me off and told me they needed breakfast.
as we were going out of the lobby, we realized that snow flurries were raging outside. the snow just plopped out of nowhere, totally undetected by glib weathermen.
out of instinct, I immediately hailed a cab. after I told our cabbie to take us to the park, he, without signaling and honking, took a very wide turn toward the next crosstown thoroughfare.
but one of my friends exclaimed we needed to have breakfast first. and that according to their guidebook, there is this quirky soho breakfast joint. and that was where they wanted to go first.
"aw, c'mon, make up your mind," the cabbie hollered through the plexigas partition.
my friends gave each other this knowing look. then, they both stared at me like I was the one being rude. I was fighting a losing battle.
so, soho it was. and I did not even know the beautiful people in soho wake up before noon.
after the perfunctory good mornings, this statuesque waitress herded us to this poorly lit cabana. she left us, telling us nothing. then she trundled back with a pot of anemic coffee and started pouring each of us a cup.
"um, I don't drink coffee," one of my friends told the waitress.
"don't drink coffee? what are you, jehovah's witness or something?" she said.
I told her I will have his cup and that my friend suffers from some sort of, I even forgot now what I told her.
then she asked us what we wanted. I told her my order immediately while my friends tarried in reading the menu. all the while, she tapped not so subtly her pen against the oily sheaf of order slips.
after our so-so breakfast, my friends decided not to leave the waitress any tip. but as we were leaving, I surreptitiously left her a decent one. I could not risk being chased by a beautiful model/actress moonlighting as a server asking, no, haranguing me why was i not satisfied with her service, sort of.
when we went out of the diner, the snowing has ceased. there was decent sticking - on the pavement, on the trees. but the atmosphere was so achingly clear, it would not have occurred to me, had I not known it, that it just snowed ferociously an hour ago.
I told my friends that maybe we should get on the subway so that they would get a better feel of the city. they looked at me with that knowing look again and I knew I just lost my crusade. but they agreed with the suggestion anyway.
since it was rush hour, the station was jam-packed. it took me a while to explain to my out-of-towner friends the mechanics of getting a fare card from the vending machine. we could hear audibly the grumblings of the people waiting behind us in the line.
and then when the train arrived, well, you know the scene. pushing, shoving. stepping on toes.
I got in the train. my other friend got in. but as the warning buzzer got off, our other friend, the one who doesn't drink coffee, was still fidgeting on the platform outside.
as the overhead announcement went off telling commuters to stand back from the closing doors, my friend who was with me made this ridiculous sign to our other friend outside. you know the one saying just call us. I started to giggle inappropriately.
and then, this surly looking man in camel hair coat by the door, without regard for his safety, stuck out his arms and forced open the now closing doors.
he then grabbed my stunned friend by the arm and hauled him in. just like that.
my friends and i and our hero all got off at 59th. being ever gracious, my fidgety friend walked up to the guy in camel coat and thanked him profusely.
all that the guy said was "nah." then he just walked away as if he could not wait to get back to what's left of his day.