[taken by me]
- You never need a DD. I can’t tell you how constantly happy I was for the trains and cabs, but never as much as when I’d overdone it at a bar or a party. There’s nothing worse than having to leave your car behind so your friend can give you a ride home. In New York, that’s never a worry.
- Traffic is never an issue. There were definitely mornings when the trains were very, very crowded, but barring emergencies and assuming I made it out of bed and to the train on time, my commuting time was fixed 95% of the time. I didn’t have to worry about other drivers doing stupid things behind the wheel; all I had to do was show up on the platform with iPod in hand, get on, and ride.
- You can go into a bar and not know anyone, if that’s what you’re seeking. It is literally impossible to go anywhere in Cincinnati without seeing at least three people you know. It’s great because you’re guaranteed never to be lonely, but if aloneness is what you’re seeking, here’s when the problem comes in. When I wanted to get away from anyone I could potentially recognize in New York, I had a not-so-secret diner on the Upper East Side where I could go and drink coffee and eat sandwiches alone with a book.
- People are very responsible about following up with you. It’s not an easy place to live, so there’s a general culture of helping each other out. And anytime you meet anyone cool in a bar, there’s a chance you might never see them again—so as a result, everyone is extremely diligent about getting contact info and following up with anyone they’ve hit it off with at a party or an event. Consequently, your social circle grows a lot more actively. On the other hand, rarely have I ever given anyone my card here, because given that there are only about eight bars total that anyone in my demographic goes to, it’s guaranteed that I’m going to run into someone again.
- The fact that you have three jobs, a blog, a musical project, a handful of art shows coming up, and an Etsy shop isn’t something that makes people raise an eyebrow. Why? Because they’re in the same boat – putting themselves through design school by working the night shift between performing with their modern dance group, selling screen prints in Union Square, and DJ’ing twice a week. No one patronizes you by describing you as “one of those creative types” with a wrinkling of the nose when you tell them about your extracurriculars.
- People believe you when you tell them you’re not thinking about having kids anytime soon, instead of pulling the whole “You’ll change your mind.” Adulthood without the traditional milestones of marriage and children is perceived as valid and valuable, not pitiable. I’m offended by this in any case, but it’s certainly been happening way more in Ohio than it did in New York.
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2 comments
Molly says:
Nov 7, 2009
The best way to combat people telling you that you are going to have kids(which happens vastly more when you get married) is not to listen, just smile and nod. Same advice goes for the weird multi job thing. Don’t heed the faces people make and what they say, be yourself.
As far as bars, just go downtown or outside Clifton/Northside, trust me you can find some bars in Cincinnati where you don’t know anyone…
Ian says:
Nov 24, 2009
You’ve listed one of my only significant complaints about Cincinnati here — and that is lack of really good public transportation.
I’m like you in that don’t perceive much value in the “traditional milestones”, but the fact that most of the people I associate with or am friends with are pretty open-minded and non-traditional means that I don’t often experience the “you’ll change your mind”. So it isn’t much of an issue for me, though I am aware that I live in somewhat of a bubble and that most of Cincinnati is pretty traditional :)