You Think You Know, But You Have No Idea

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My latest pet peeve is THIS.

Every time someone living outside the city attempts to ‘minimize’ what it’s like living in New York City, something dies in my soul!

“Oh, it’s not thaaaaat expensive…”

“it can’t be thaaaaat busy…”

It’s the emotional rage equivalent of telling a person who works out hours every single day, and limiting it to the fact that they must just have really good genes! When they go on to explain how hard they work – the laziness they push past, the determination they have to possess, the self control that it demands – the response again is, “nah, that cant be it… you must just have good genes!”

For the record, I don’t have good genes. And living in the city DOES NOT come natural to me.

And I can’t help but think, that when I am searching the city over, and aggravated to the point that I am yelling in pig-latin in the bulk spice aisle of the grocery store because I can’t find nutmeg for under $6.99, or the cheapest loaf of white bread I can find is on sale for $4 and went bad YESTERDAY! That you are right…  I must just be making this ISH up! $$$$$$$$$

crowded-subwayThat when I pack into a subway car that has you crammed like sardines, and I find myself apologizing to my daughter for all the miscellaneous crotches in her face, or stand in the check out line at Trader Joes that literally wraps around the store, TWICE! That it’s true, its not thaaaaat busy… compared to Black Friday!

So for all those, whose opinions are flooding me like a southern downpour, the truth of the matter is, you think you know, but you have no idea!

Is it just me, or have I gotten feistier over the course of the last 8 months? 🙂

You see, living in Manhattan is hard to describe…

At the exact same place outside your apartment that you saw Tom Selleck 30 minutes prior, now lies a man passed out drunk infront of your building, making it so you can’t leave your apartment until a ‘Good Samaritan’ walking along the street literally picks him up by his coat, and tosses him to the side so you can get through the door.

Our children’s pediatrician is on Park Avenue, we take morning strolls through central park, with each step, listening to the Kings of Leon rehearse their songs for a benefit concert somewhere in the park, and have seen both the President and the Rockafeller christmas tree being police excorted outside our apartment building (one being more exciting than the other depending on your political stance!)

And yet, we take public transportation to go trick or treating, have bruises up and down our left leg thanks to carrying our kid in their stroller down the subway steps, and are forced to store our summer clothes under our beds during the winter due to lack of space. Seriously, if I only had ONE more closet…

We get yelled at every time we put out basket of groceries on the conveyor belt at the store (for reasons we aren’t quite sure), and are tainted enough to believe that the only plausible explanation for someone being nice to you is that they have every intention of mugging you.

We live and breathe by the saying “You are only in trouble, if you get caught”, rarely make eye contact, and know the homeless people in our area more than our neighbors (and if you are like my family, you nickname them!)

There’s ‘The Spitter’ who for whatever reason spits sporadically  (you can hear her before you see her), “Two-face” who sweetly asks for spare change- puppy dog eyes and all – but then curses your existence as you walk by, calling you the likes of ‘ungrateful’, and ‘selfish’ with a few f -bombs tossed in there for emphasis.

Then there is the man that sits on the corner of the street outside our apartment – rain or shine – in a wheelchair and NEVER asks for money. Who we later came to find out isn’t homeless at all! He actually works for the paparazzi, and like clock work, sits outside the restaurant below our apartment, watching for celebrities going in and out. Who, now that I think about it, probably doesn’t even really need a wheelchair! 

New Yorkers also eat out a TON – 58% of them eat out AT LEAST once a day! (And it’s likely that we know lots more random statistics just like that!) We also have lofty ‘food goals’, like to try a cronut (the croissant- doughnut hybrid that has taken the city by storm!) or to ‘taste’ every country in South America, just because we can!

And given the dire situation that you ever find yourself needing to impress a New Yorker, it’s as simple as making something- ANYTHING – homemade! Seriously, it BLOWS. THEIR. MIND. every time!

Our bible studies have people skyping in from around the country (one even in Afghanistan!), our playdates go down at playgrounds not in homes, and interestingly enough, I’m in a car so little, that I actually get car sick every time I am in a taxi.

531966_520585242644_227592518_nAnd sure, I could trade my NYC life, for granite countertops, and a walk-in closet elsewhere. I could have impeccable customer service, and cheaper produce at my fingertips… but even then, the cost would be far too great!

Because I’d be trading my new-found courageousness for comfort, and my city experiences for mere suburban luxuries.

So I have decided…

Suburbia, you can keep your fancy cars, your garbage disposals, and the expectation to have an even number of kids,

because although living in the city is mind-boggling expensive, swamped with people, and stretching me thin to the point I am nearly translucent,

Even still, I want to be a New Yorker!

For today, at least 🙂

Krista Signature

17 thoughts on “You Think You Know, But You Have No Idea”

  1. Oh sister. We are learning similar lessons on the opposite ends of the spectrum. I’m learning that farming is relentless and grueling. That people don’t like ti drive 40 minutes to hang out. That tractors and livestock are incredibly expensive. And out here, like NYC, I’m on my own. But I will keep at it, because I am a country girl. Stay strong! Keep em comin. I love your blog.

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    1. Sounds like just as huge of an adjustment! But good for you! Sometime life gets so mundane and bleh, but when u courageously step out of your comfort zone and realize that we are never too old to try something new, that’s where life truly gets exciting!!!!! Thanks for reaching out and sharing your equally crazy life 🙂

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  3. I was introduced to your blog through your post “misconceptions of a Godly woman” and thought OH how badly I needed this reminder! SO I thought I would read some more posts, and I have to say I LOVE this post. I moved to Los Angeles, CA from the suburbs of Atlanta, GA the week after our honeymoon…it was a HARD transition! That was 3 years ago. If anything the struggle in the past couple years being here have shown me that GOD is not calling us to sit down and get comfortable! it calls us to a place of uncertainty where we learn to rely on Him more!

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    1. Yes!!! I bet you can totally relate! NYC and LA are both entirely different worlds, compared to the rest of civilization! I love that God has called you and your husband to the same kind of life -not getting comfortable, and learning to rely on Him for everything you need!

      I remember early on reading Matthew 8:20 -“Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” and it always served as the perfect reminder to not get too comfortable, that living sold out to christ means you are at times going to live one CRAAAAAZY life! And I was right! 🙂

      Thanks for reaching out Alicia!

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  4. Krista,

    I was just introduced to your blog yesterday by a friend. Can I just say…you ROCK! I just LOVE your blogs!! You already feel like a friend! 🙂 This one really hit home. Thank you!

    My husband and I are Lead Pastors. We moved from Southern California to Duncan, Oklahoma (population 24,000) six years ago to plant our church. It sure has been quite the adventure to say the least! Most days I feel like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole! It truly does take courage to live outside of your comfort zone. However, in doing so, we get to experience a life of extraordinary faith…and I’m learning daily how to love living in the extraordinary!!

    So glad I found your blog! I look forward to many GREAT reads!!

    Sandy

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    1. Sandy, I can totally relate to everything you said! Adjustments are a little crazy, a whole lot of fun and require a extreme amount of faith! And I would have it no other way! 🙂 Thanks for reading!

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  5. i can so relate to this (with the exception of the celebrities)! we have been living in stuttgart, germany for the last year, and it is all this, plus people yelling at you in a different language….but i love it SO much. it has been so amazing, but definitely a challenge when things are more expensive, plus there is a conversion rate, we went from 2,000 sq. ft. with one baby, to a walkup with 2, and half the time, i’m not sure if i am getting sour cream or sour kraut. HA! true story….good stuff. i grew up in the suburbs, moved to hawaii after we got married and then moved here, and so far, its all been glorious =)

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  6. I just found your blog, and after LOVING the first entry, this is the next one I read… and I loved it. I have never even been to NYC, in fact Dallas is the biggest city I have been to, and it requires nothing more than a car and GPS. But, I have fallen in love with a boo character who just moved to NYC and loved how the two of you related such similar experiences. I can’t wait to read more! And, I can’t wait for the time in my life I get to step out of my comfort zone!

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  7. Krista,
    I moved to Germany to be with my husband in the Army. God used our first three years of marriage spent far away from family and friends to change me in profound ways that could not have happened in my domestic suburban state of three years ago. It forced utter reliance on Him for strength. I had to learn to embrace the country that I found myself in. I had to learn that God placed me here to grow and change in order to better served Him. I had to be broken apart in order to be put back together in a form that could now serve in the way God needed me to. Thank you for this post and for your post about the Godly woman. Together they were just the encouragement I needed as we prepare to move again far away from family to Korea. We keep hearing, why don’t you just take the hardship tour and stay with family while your husband does the tour. My response is because it’s not about me and my selfish needs. It’s about knowing that God asked me to go to Korea. He laid it upon my heart that our next step in our journey will be there. My job is to just embrace it, love it, and just say yes. Thank you for embracing the place where God puts you for this season of your life and sharing your thoughts and feelings in such an elegant manner.
    Lari

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  8. Krista……I was introduced to you blog via the Misconceptions of a Godly Woman post and I have to say it spoke to me. I have always struggled with my faith and chosen the wrong path but I’m am trying to get myself back in track and it lightens my heart to know I’m not the only one who feels unworthy although most of the time I feel like a hot mess lol I’ve been reading through your posts out loud to my fiancé for well over and hour and many things have touched us, put a smile on our faces and even made us LOL at times. I can promise we will be avid readers and not miss a post and we plan to read as many past posts as possible 🙂 thank you for the humor, and the tidbits of advise and most of all for reminding me when I really needed it that The Lord loves me even when I mess up and curse the mice in MY house that I can’t get rid of! Keep up the great work!

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  9. I have to say your humorous description of NYC makes me all the more thankful to be living in a small town semi-rural area on one acre with seven chickens and two dogs. I was raised in the big city (Seattle) suburbia, and I wouldn’t go back for anything–unless God made me…I love buying local organic here, but I must say it’s ALL GETTING EXPENSIVE. Thank the Feds for their inflationary economic policies…but don’t get me started…

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  10. I have a really good idea what it is like to step WAY outside of your comfort zone for life in a BIG city! We are Canadian expats living in Bangkok, Thailand…..population 15 million. Prior to this we spent two years in Northern New Jersey living on over four acres of wooded property in a 4300 sq. foot house! How’s that for adjustment?!
    I was introduced to your blog through the post Misconceptions of a Godly Woman and loved it enough that I had to read more. Thank you for providing some food for my soul in a far away (Buddhist) land!

    Blessings,

    Colleen

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