State Lines

OUTTA HERE Interacting with New Yorkers we often said proudly was like talking to people from another planet

L ike all out-of-towners I’ve always walked with my shoulders back and head held high carried by the silent pride that comes with knowing deep down that out-of-towners are simply a superior breed of human being.

Sure they laughed at us those New Yorkers they mocked us scoffing at our Payless shoes nerdy white shells and general lack of savvy but we knew the truth. Out-of-towners were more thoughtful and more understanding. We were kinder more welcoming and more given to introspection. We were less judgmental less prone to stereotyping less likely to label broad swathes of humanity based solely on externalities like dress or locale. Interacting with New Yorkers we often said proudly was like talking to people from another planet.

This pride carried me from camp — where I recall a memorable Neighborhood Day that featured separate teams for Bensonhurt and Kensington Flatbush and Boro Park to say nothing of the Five Towns but lumped together all of us out-of-towners from Montreal to Memphis from Phoenix to Philadelphia — to seminary and then to the real world.