New York State of Mind

New York State of Mind
I’ve only lived in New York for a couple years, but after that short time I am conscious of the fact that I’ve developed the New Yorker persona. Specifically, keeping to myself in public, getting easily aggravated by slow walkers, and swearing at cat callers. These traits are appropriate for the big city; ask anyone who lives here, and they’ll tell you they do the same things. But what’s shocked me is that when I visit my quaint hometown, these traits follow me. I sometimes go on sunrise walks, and as I pass locals who smile and say “goodmorning”, my first thought isn’t “Awe that’s nice,” it’s “Why are you talking to me?”. I realize now that it’s the newly forming New Yorker inside me, who just wants to be left alone by strangers when in public. Though I’m not the proudest of these subconscious acts, I am proud that even when I leave New York it never leaves me.