Tourist Encounter of the Best Kind

Today I met a NY tourist I loved! (Don't worry hon, not like that.) He stopped me as I was walking to the subway and asked how to get to Little Italy. Honestly, it's been a while, and it's not like there is a "Little Italy" subway stop....so after I hemmed and hawed for a minute, I pulled out my tiny subway map set aside for emergencies like this one and began to tell him where to catch the best subway. He interrupted saying, "Not by train. Walking."

(I have just been informed by a reliable source that Little Italy is exactly 3.95 miles from where we were located.)

I showed him where we were on the map (near the lower left corner of Central Park) and where Little Italy is (oh, almost at the bottom of the island). He asked where Columbia is on the map (nearly 10 blocks north of the top of Central Park on the red line...a mere 2.76 miles away.)

None of this phased him. So, with a bit more respect, I pointed him in the right direction and off he strode, saying, "The only way to see the city is to walk."

This guy gets it! What a NY way to be! I love the determination, the self-assured "I can get there on my own two feet" approach, the desire to see the city and the willingness to pay for the pleasure, not in dollars but in blisters! I could have run up and given him a great big friendly New Yorker hug (again, not like that hon!) God bless you where ever you are....hopefully eating cannoli and lasagna, and not in one of those touristy joints. You deserve the real thing! Hats off!

ps. I am a CMA (Certified Movement Analyst) and I just loved observing his clear body attitude as he headed down Broadway...lifted shoulders, structured upper body, striding into the sunset! All part of "carrying himself" exactly where he wanted to go.