{ Anthropologie tunic; Deux Lux Karma Clutch; DIY-ed distressed jeans (tutorial) }
I don’t know whether it’s the warm air or what, but something’s in the water lately: everyone is just so nice. The other day I went into the city to shoot a segment and hung around for awhile afterwards to get a few errands done (including a stop into Anthropologie to return a broken necklace, which I exchanged for the completely amazing tank pictured here)…and it was lovely.
As a point of reference, what usually happens when I go into the city for the day is I am instantly reminded of all the things about city life that make me glad that I’m close by, but no longer a resident. Like the people. Who are very numerous, and often very angry. And that many people being that angry…it makes me angry, too. And I hate hate hate being angry, because I get rude, and then I instantly feel guilty and beat myself up about it for the remainder of the day. A few weeks ago when I went in for a meeting I was trying to get off of the subway and got so frustrated by the fact that not one single person would move away from the door and allow me to take even one single step off that I actually yelled:
“BACK IT UP, PEOPLE.”
Like, yelled it. If I did that in Tarrytown – which I wouldn’t, because there’s an excellent chance I’d be yelling it at, like, kindergarteners and the nice lady who helps me deposit my checks at the bank – I would probably be handed a cup of tea and asked if I needed a foot rub or something. But in New York, people yelled back at me. And then I got all weepy, and…well…
Ugh.
But the other day when I went in, the sun was shining and the weather was perfect and it seemed like everyone was doing nice things for each other. I didn’t have a receipt for my broken necklace, but the attendant let me return it at the full, non-sale price just because, and then chatted with me for awhile about having kids. A man let me go ahead of him on line for pizza. A reader came up to just to say hello. And on the train home, when I couldn’t find the return ticket that I’d tucked into my jacket pocket, the woman collecting tickets winked at me and told me not to worry about it and to have a nice day. And I did.
It’s hokey, but also true, you know: it really can make a person’s day better if you just go ahead and smile at them. Let them cut you on line. Say hi.
It’s a good thing to remember every once in awhile. It was nice of New York City to remind me.
On Me: Anthropologie tunic; Hat Attack fedora; DIY-ed distressed jeans (click here for a tutorial); pumps ℅ Call It Spring (similar); Karma Clutch ℅ Deux Lux.
