Way back three years ago in the early days of this blog, I was looking for a topic to write about and whipped up an article speculating about what it would be like to visit the streets of New York. I had seen Earthcam's continuous live depiction of street pedestrian traffic there and wondered in the article how long I would be able to stand it before I had to leave. You see, I have always had a bit of a problem being in the midst of large, noisy crowds. And New York City, especially Midtown Manhattan, is the very essence of crowded life. So I felt at first little bit uneasy about the upcoming trip to NYC last month.
But as it turned out, I had almost no adverse reaction to the enormous crowds in New York throughout my stay. The only time it bothered me was during my tedious ordeal standing in a seemingly interminable line in the Empire State Building waiting for the "express" elevator to take us to the observation floor. But I had been spoiled earlier at the Rockefeller Center's GE Building and how quickly, efficiently and politely they whisked us up to the "Top of the Rock". The Empire State Building experience was the opposite, with employees there snapping orders at the visitors, all of whom I'm sure were tired at waiting so long in line. When it was time for our pictures to be taken, they rushed us along so rudely that it reminded me of little Ralph's "Santa Claus at the department store" experience in the holiday movie staple A Christmas Story. So there were aggravating factors at the ESB adding to my anxiety.
Elsewhere in Manhattan, I almost magically thrived among the rich assortment of noises, sights, and smells. I loved walking down crowded streets, eating in crowded restaurants, browsing in crowded shops, riding crowded buses, you name it...the crowds were O.K.; even the crowded plane rides and airplane terminals didn't phase me. So what does this mean?
Maybe I've reached a point somehow where I have overcome this type of phobia about crowds. It certainly does seem that way to me. After all, my recent visit to Manhattan made "bigapplophobia" a truly meaningless nonsense word!
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I know exactly what you mean, because I, too, greatly dislike crowds and noise (and, especially, noisy crowds). But here's the thing: I don't think it's that NYC has something to it that makes us tolerant of the noise and the crowds.
ReplyDeleteI think NYC has something to it that makes the noise and the crowds "go away", somehow.
As I walk through the crowded streets, I usually don't feel the crowds at all. As you say, the noise becomes sort of music, perhaps in a John Cage-like way. And the crowds open up, as one seems to dance through the streets, avoiding collisions and moving smoothly despite the bustle.
The only time I find it oppressive is when I'm walking with a group, and it's hard to keep track of the group and keep it together through it all.