Re: Riders I meet

Per Chalo:
I have visited there many times since the 1980s. And each time I have
wondered, "whatsamatta wit dese people?!" They're brusque to the
point of rudeness even when they're being nice by local standards.
And they drive like they're on a cocktail of methamphetamine and
pepper spray.

To judge by the inhabitants of Manhattan, what it takes to flourish
there is thick skin and hypercriticality. So, thanks, but I'll be
happy to flourish in a proudly weird and overtly friendly place
instead.

Y'all probably wouldn't like it here, though. It's really hot.

As part of a mis-spent youth, I lived 9 years in Hawaii.

While going to college there I worked downtown as a desk
clerk/night auditor in a 100-room hotel.

Of all the people who came in/out of that place, the one bunch I
always looked forward to - and enjoyed serving - were the NYC
tour groups: they all understood and spoke direct, level-1
English.

Some of them were PITA, but it was totally up-front, 100%
comprehensible, in-your-face PITA.

Such a relief from going in to a family restaurant in Kaimuki,
ordering coffee and a hamburger and having some air head ask
"Uhhhhh.... you like hot dug?".

It's probably a lot better English-language-wise in Hawaii now,
but at the time, I thought New York City was the navel of the
universe.
--
PeteCresswell
.

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