noise

New Yorkers are often accused of being brash, loud and overbearing. The brash and the loud I completely understand. But overbearing? Most assuredly not.

Being brash and loud is an absolute necessity in New York. New York is loud. Deafeningly loud. Nobody here shouts because they want to, they shout because they have to. You want personal space, go to Minnesota. New York is about people, lots of them...and trucks, lots of them too...and construction. And then there's the ever-present honking taxi.

I get accused of being loud, mostly by my wife, and I suppose that character trait, if one could call it that is what's made New York such a comfortable fit for me. Generally when I work here I'm probably one of the quieter melons in the garden, but my somewhat brash nature doesn't ruffle feathers here the way it tends to in Canada.

In much of the rest of the US people are intimidated by New York. They think it's too loud and brash and overbearing. They also think New Yorkers are cold. They're not. Most New Yorkers avoid eye-contact on the street or in the subway because it's their way of claiming a modicum of personal space...in fact, avoiding eye-contact may be the only way to do it. But ask a New Yorker for directions and you may end up with a friend for life.

Many Canadians think Toronto is intimidating. That intimidation generally manifests in a profound (and unfounded) hatred for the city. They say Torontonians are brash and loud, but that mostly they're overbearing. Toronto gets pegged as being cold, and I don't mean the weather. People from Montreal and Winnipeg say Toronto is cold, so it can't be about the weather. They're talking about Torontonians. Well, to a degree we in Toronto have to fight for personal space too. We erect that little invisible screen around ourselves and move through the day. But ask somebody directions to Little Italy and you may just make a friend for life. Torontonians, like New Yorkers are open and giving and citizens of both burgs get a bum rap in the personal intercourse department.

I love New York. I love Toronto. It's good to work. But every time I return to New York to work I forget how noisy it is, and remember why I like it so much.