I want to live in Manhattan, or...at least I did.
See, we went to see my Grandpa in Newark, and took a little side trip into Manhattan on the PATH train, to see Ground Zero. At first, I was overcome by the sensation of being in such a wonderful place, filled with such diverse people and such neat sights (especially the building with the sign that said, "Naked boys singing!") but after awhile a claustrophobic feeling began to set in, and I just wanted to get out.
It was brought about by the realization that I was standing on a slab of granite with millions of other people; a long slab of granite covered in buildings, with a low spot in the middle, surrounded by polluted rivers, in the middle of the New York Metro Area, the most densely populated...area...in the US. So little space to live, to express, and affected so easily by what others did to me...(I couldn't see into the pit where the World Trade Center once stood, but I could see that several buildings around itstill had extensive exterior damage...the thought of that reverberation frightened me...) Everyone in all the sitcoms I like lives in Manhattan, and they all seem to tolerate it. I wonder how they do it...oh, wait, they're not real.
Anybody have an answer to this? How do people live in Manhattan?