New York City is full of tourist right now, and why not. The City is beautiful, the lights are up, the Rockefeller Christmas tree is lit up and the windows in the stores are works of art. There is just enough crispness in the air and a Santa on every corner posing pictures for a price. The excitement is thick with the frenzy of commerce. This is the biggest single concentration of humans in the USA and capitalism insists we separate the masses from every penny we can lure from them.

Not all the people in Times Square are tourist. But you can tell the local New Yorkers from the out or towners with very little effort. It is not just by the way tourists will stop in front of you and impede your progress. It is not the way tourists ask you to take their picture. It is not because you see them boarding a bus wearing a newly purchased Mama Mia tee shirt. It is also not when you hear some person with a thick Texas accent say, “Lookey there, Doris, it’s the Empire State Building” when they are pointing at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. None of those things. It is the way people walk.

A tourist will always walk looking up. They’re looking at the billboards, the signs, and the upper stories of buildings. They walk around looking up.

A New Yorker will always walk looking down. It is not just the fact they have seen the billboards, the signs and know how tall the building are. It is not because they are unfriendly or want to avoid eye contact. A New Yorker is looking down to make sure he doesn’t step in dog shit.
As you were,
Jay