Being A Good Neighbor

one of the things i like about living in cities are the relationships you can make around town. i'm not talking about friendships or romantic relationships, i'm talking about the relationships you can make with local merchants and people you see almost everyday.

when i used to work on the hill, there was this cheap little japanese joint a block away from my office that i would visit about twice a week (i would go on wednesday and friday to take advantage of their specials), and over the course of my tenure down there, i developed a very nice relationship with the lady behind the counter. it was great: she would automatically take my order without even asking what i wanted, because i would order the same thing every time. we would briefly chat and i would leave by saying "see you wednesday" or "see you next week". it wasn't much, but it was nice.

it took me a little while longer to establish the same sort of relationship over here at metro center, but today it finally happened. ever since passover i have been visiting the same kabob place quite frequently (i started going there because they had what they called a low-carb kabob, which is simply the kabob over lettuce with some tzatziki) and today the guy behind the counter looked up at me and said "low-carb #2 to go, right?" so we are now friends. its nice to have these relationships (the first one i can remember having was back in the day when my family would go to sagami for dinner on sunday night. they would always treat us well there).

in new york it will probably take me a while to establish these, but i will develop them just the same. adam has rafi and the guys at joe jr. i wonder who my rafi or japanese lady or kabob guy or joe jr. will be?