The Daily Ping

The 1st Ping was published on January 6, 2000.

December 21st, 2010

How to Freak People Out in New York

New Yorkers are pretty unflappable. Not much will throw them for a loop. But I’m here to tell you how to mess up their whole world.

During our last visit to the city, I had purchased two 7-day Metrocard subway passes because it made the most sense, financially. However, we were only there for 4 1/2 days, so a full 2 1/2 days of subway fun was going unused. Thus, on our final trip, I took our subway cards, headed to the lines at the Metrocard machines, and offered them to two random people, one woman and one man. “Want a 7-day pass?” I started. They both looked at me with the same skeptical look. “Free. I’m leaving town and it’s good until Friday.” They blinked, I handed the cards to them, and they finally broke a smile, looking surprised there was no catch, and said “Thanks!”

This is not to say that New Yorkers are rude or unthoughtful — I get a friendlier vibe from them than I do in most random suburban towns — just that getting something for nothing without any strings attached is a bit jarring for them.

Posted in Miscellaneous

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