Browsing the archives of the 'Ask a shop clerk' section in New York Magazine is my favourite new game. It is ordered, not by shop, but by the name of the person and a quote. So the 'game' is to try and guess which shop the person works in by the quote. Some of my favourites are listed below.
"Kate does exist, though I've never met her."
"Say no to butt crack. It's not sexy."
"Sometimes I feel like I have a cure for a deadly disease."
"We get a lot of really weird and rude people. Some of them are out of it - maybe drunk."
I don't know why I am so obsessed by this: maybe it's because NYC is calling me - it's been 8 years, or maybe it's because I once was a not so lowly shop 'clerk'.
Check out Rae Nicoletti from Kate Spade - I want to be her friend.
Source: via just my cup of tea
1 comment:
Yes, New York does have this effect on people, both residents and visitors: it makes you want to speak in an instantly quotable way. We’ve already talked about Overheard in New York, and indeed one does really overhear strangely memorably and cryptic snatches of conversation. It is in part because New York is not a quiet or discreet city. It shouts, both metaphorically and literally. I was at the airport this morning, and the security staff were shouting out instructions to everyone at the top of their (at least my) lung capacity. Don’t they get tired? My ears certainly do. You go into a crowded bar, and there’s a thin slip of girl whose voice cuts through the crowd like a foghorn. Where does she get the vocal strength? Pilates class? New Yorkers also like talking among themselves and to strangers. It’s considered amusing rather than rude to opine about passersby’s conversations (though some good sense has to be applied – probably better not to interrupt a breakup.)
Here I tread a little delicately but I wonder if NY is a quotable city then what effect do other cities have? I think of Paris as a city that provides a visual frame and invites one to be frameably elegant. London? Not sure what effect it has on natives, but as a frequent visitor it seems to reign in my disorderly spirit and make me generally rule-abiding, discreet, and polite. That and it inspires me to wear crazy neckties.
Boston, where I am at this moment, seems to unleash the eccentric academic lurking not too far below the surface. In this city, it is not considered impolite to talk to oneself, wandering distractedly down sidewalk, to stop in the middle of the road if you have an interesting thought, and to mumble in response to questions.
Regards,
BB
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