Metropolitan Diary analysis: 2006-04-03
OK, so everyone in the blogosphere has mentioned the NY Times redesign, so I will only say that the "Today's Paper" link helped me find the Metropolitan Diary far faster. (Dear Diary - New York Times) Excellent job, NY Times crew. However, that will not stop me from making fun of the Metropolitan Diary on this blog.
Precocious NY Kids: 2
Amusing Misspellings: 1
Jaded New Yorkers: 1
New York Eccentrics: 1
Oh, Those Fast-Paced New Yorkers!: 1
Totals for year to date:
Precocious NY Kids: 17
Jaded New Yorkers: 13
New York Eccentrics: 13
Oh, Those Fast-Paced New Yorkers!: 11
Rubes in the Big City: 10
Precocious NY Pets: 6
New Yorkers Aren't So Bad, After All: 7
Amusing Misspellings: 5
Single New York Woman's Perspective: 3
WTF:2
- Girl hanging out with a group of teenagers in Times Square is asked by her father, the bus driver, if her mother knows where she is; she replies affirmatively and he is satisfied. Category: Precocious NY Kids
- Sign in theater apologizes for the lack of heat; ironically, it is showing the movie "Eight Below". Category: Amusing Misspellings (I know this is not a misspelling, but I am considering renaming the category "Very Punny!" or or something like that. Originally I was going to call it "Foreigners Just Can't Spell Like Us!" but that would perhaps not be taken to poke fun at Metro Diary letter writers as I would have meant it, and also wouldn't apply to situations like this. Anyway, you couldn't give a rat's ass about my stupid categories so I'll shut up now. Just wanted to explain.)
- Woman's husband misses stop on visit to Douglaston; friendly conductor writes a "special code" on the back of the ticket which, when examined closely, calls him out as an idiot. Category: Jaded New Yorkers (I have to say, I actually found this kind of funny.)
- Father on cell phone misses conversation between 4-year-old and 6-year-old in which the latter adds a witty addendum to "Old MacDonald Had a Farm": "And a beach house, too." Category: Precocious NY Kids (This is the gold standard for this category. A 6-year-old knowing about a beach house! A prototypical Precocious NY Kid.)
- Man, upon seeing doorman bark at dog owned by (presumed) building resident, begins "yipping" himself. Category: New York Eccentrics
- Woman, upon returning to her "home in Manhattan after a year in London", confusedly attempts to swipe MetroCard on the way out of the station as they do on the tube. Category: Rubes in the Big City (Technically, the writer lived in the city before, but this is clearly a rube-like situation. Plus I'm calling her out for smugly making sure we know she kept her "home in Manhattan" while she lived abroad.)
- Writer notices a man shaving while hailing a cab, and a woman eating cornflakes from the box while getting out her MetroCard. Punchline: she takes oatmeal to the office and microwaves it. New Yorkers are such multi-taskers! Category: Oh, Those Fast-Paced New Yorkers!
Precocious NY Kids: 2
Amusing Misspellings: 1
Jaded New Yorkers: 1
New York Eccentrics: 1
Oh, Those Fast-Paced New Yorkers!: 1
Totals for year to date:
Precocious NY Kids: 17
Jaded New Yorkers: 13
New York Eccentrics: 13
Oh, Those Fast-Paced New Yorkers!: 11
Rubes in the Big City: 10
Precocious NY Pets: 6
New Yorkers Aren't So Bad, After All: 7
Amusing Misspellings: 5
Single New York Woman's Perspective: 3
WTF:2
posted by sbreck | 5:36 PM
2 Comments:
You rely way to much on "rubes in the big city" to shoehorn in all kinds of diary entries.
Then you have all kinds of lame justifications:
-"Technically the writer lived in the city before"
-"Dave" is clearly coming "across town" on the 86th St bus, which indicates that he lives on the Upper East Side"
I'll agree with you that the 86th Street bus one was a stretch, it was more like "Naifs in the Big City" because, like, who hasn't heard of North Face winter clothing? But that doesn't necessarily mean "Dave" is a rube.
But come on, not knowing that you don't have to swipe the MetroCard on your way out of the subway because you've been in London? If the story was "we spent the week in New York and only on the last day did we overcome our anxiety at not swiping our MetroCard on the way out of the subway", you would totally tag it Rubes in the Big City. Just because the person mentioned that they lived in the city a year before, doesn't mean they didn't become rube-i-fied in their year away. I stand by the Rubes tag on that one!
BTW, thanks for the comment.
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