Things That Annoy Everyone, Not Just New Yorkers
Photo by Brandon Green
Sure, New York has an exorbitant number of rats to deal with and an unreasonable amount of people who think honking in traffic gridlock will solve anything, but New Yorkers do have the uncanny ability to forget there is a world outside the city. Every month or so an article will find its way onto my Twitter feed titled something like, “10 Most Annoying Things Only New Yorkers Will Understand.” The articles are cute and wry. They are not meant to be taken seriously, yet the cynicism is palpable.
While I understand it’s cathartic and necessary to complain about the city one lives in, people in New York forget the city is not the center of the universe. We do have slow walkers and gawking tourists elsewhere. New York may be a grind, but so is most everywhere else on this dumb blue marble. So here is my list of the top things New Yorkers should realize are actually universal.
1: Slow Walkers
The most obvious entry on the list to me is how New Yorkers believe they are the only city dwellers afflicted by walls of tourists and blissfully unaware amblers. The world is made up of two people, those who walk fast and those who are in the way of those who walk fast. New Yorkers could have it worse. Anyone who has visited an old-world European city can testify that the streets of New York are wide in comparison.
2: Tourists
Just a quick tie in to the previous item, but I must point out, every city has tourists. All locals hate tourists. Period. New York, you aren’t special in this regard! Try walking around Rome in the summer. You’ll never complain again.
3: People Not Using Headphones in Public
Who wants to hear another person’s music blaring in a public space? I certainly don’t. Doesn’t matter if it’s a packed subway car or an empty garden. Public spaces call for a level of respect that using a portable speaker just doesn’t rise to. Sure, there are times and places for it. I can’t get mad at a group of friends for busting out their favorite tunes at a busy pool or in a park on a perfect summer day, but most spaces call for some consideration of who is around, especially subway cars and coffee shops. Don’t even get me started on people who FaceTime in public without headphones!
4: Pushing the Wrong Elevator Button
Granted, I only saw this on one list of things that annoy New Yorkers, but…c’mon. Anyone who has ever stepped into an elevator knows that pushing the wrong button is quite possibly the worst faux pas ever. Even if you manage to exercise some patience, no one relishes the awkward moment of an elevator opening for no purpose.
5: Impromptu Public Photoshoots
New York probably experiences this at a higher rate than anywhere in the United States, other than maybe Los Angeles, but unfortunately, there are Instagram influencers everywhere. I can’t go one day in even Nashville without seeing someone posing in front of some funky graffiti. Sometimes it is necessary to be in the way of others for the sake of art, and that is OK, as long as the photographers are prepared to take the extra time necessary to do it respectfully. I’m not one to shy away from a photoshoot, but you have to be mindful of your surroundings, especially if you are going to do it in a city with an excess of tourists and busybodies.
6: Littering
Trash is a definitively New York problem, at least compared to the rest of the country where it isn’t as densely populated. However, littering is a problem everywhere, and, in my opinion, a sign that you, yourself, are garbage.
7: Walking or Standing in a Row
Slow walkers are the worst, matched only by people who walk in rows, regardless of how fast. It’s one thing to walk slowly, it’s another thing altogether to create a blockade through which no one can penetrate. Whether it’s on a street or an escalator or a moving walkway, anyone who has ever had somewhere to be can relate to this problem. Follow the same principle as driving. You wouldn’t stay in the left lane if the people next to you are going the same speed. Slower traffic keep right.
8: People Sitting on the Steps in the Subway
I will admit this last item is more specific than the others, but this issue affects anyone in a city with underground public transportation. Not only is it gross, but the complete lack of social skills and spatial awareness it shows it jaw-dropping. Is it rude and inconvenient to everyone else? Of course. But I can’t help but look at it from their perspective. Imagine not caring as people rush by you, bumping into and glaring at you. They say “ignorance is bliss” for a reason.
The reason this makes my list, however, is that from my experience, New Yorkers have it easy. The subway stations are so cramped that few people dare to sit on the steps, knowing full well they could be trampled at any moment. New York beats this habit out of most people, unlike, say, Paris, where people will have to walk around sleeping wanderers and even whole families sitting on the wider, but definitely urine-soaked, steps in the Paris Metro. Apparently, every city attracts the brave souls who will plant themselves on steps made for walking, but I doubt someone will try it in a New York subway for long.
Considering how ubiquitous all these problems are, the only point I truly want to make is: people are inconsiderate everywhere. Although New York is not the center of the universe, I can understand the frustration. Between the sheer density of people to deal with and the actual problems specific to New York, I’m surprised we do not see even more ever-complacent, “What New Yorkers Hate” lists. They have to put up with a lot so, hey, maybe they’ve earned it.