[NYVette]

Tony.....
Exactly right. Manhattan is like many small towns all mixed together into one big city. (Real NY'rs don't actually say "Manhattan" they just say "the City" and everyone knows you mean Manhattan. Same as "the Island" is Long Island). Also very true.....you can come from anywhere and in a short time you fit right in. There are to many people to worry about where someone is from or why they are there. Maybe that's why my Texas relatives think we are rude for not saying "hello" or "good morning" to strangers....if NY'rs did that, just imagine 8 million people giving a morning greeting to each other! But that's in "the city" ...on "the Island" people will sometimes say hello but probably only if you have eye contact.

I know exactly what you mean Graciegirl....
The same way you feel that often people think a Midwesterner is slow and dim witted I always feel when I say that I'm from NY the other person is predisposed to thinking I'm rude or in a hurry. (Last name ends with a vowel, maybe I'm a gangster?) Also.....I never heard, read, or thought Midwesterners were slow. That's a new stereotype to me. I don't recall any slow Midwest jokes. In fact I have relatives outside Indianapolis. That's the good side of the family.