I Love New York

New Yorkers are a tough breed not to say other people are not. We have a thick skin. We are no nonsense, have to get “it” done yesterday people. We don’t ask you where you are from, not that we don’t care but all we care about is if you’re gonna be here just do what you need to do. That’s what we strive to do all the time.

New York had been portrayed as a tough place. It is. And a fast and crowded place. It definitely is. And New York has been portrayed as a place no one cares. Wrong. We care and we care big time.

On 9/11 New York and the US was rocked to its core. We were shell shocked. We cried for the loss of not only our loved ones but we cried for everyone who perished. We helped each other, held each other, did what was necessary for each other. Everyone that day was a New Yorker whether or not you actually were. We didn’t care.

New Yorkers care and understand. We speak a language unique to us. To others one cannot hear that language which sounds like English and while we speak English, New Yorkers speak a language only other New Yorkers can understand. Our hearts are connected and our souls united. Forever.

Two days after 9/11 I returned to work as a subway train conductor. I was in uniform, light blue shirt, dark blue pants, had my badge, and my radio. I wasn’t law enforcement. I wasn’t a first responder. I was me just doing my job working on a railroad that ran under New York’s battered and bruised streets. At that time conductors had to be visible as we worked on the train.

A woman came up to me when she saw me. She thanked me for helping to keep everyone safe. I smiled and wished her a good day. I felt like hugging her. She wouldn’t have minded. Compassion and “heart” spilled from me. She felt it. She was comforted.

As I walked back to my conductors position I wiped tears from my eyes. On that day my job was to be more than a subway train conductor. I was more than that. I was a symbol of strength, of comfort, of compassion. After all we were all New Yorkers. And all these years later we still are. And though, for now, I’m living elsewhere, I will always be a New Yorker and if it’s God’s will I might just have the opportunity to return home. Wouldn’t that be a great thing.