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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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