3

after my trip to New York, i realized that i drive 70 MPH, while New Yorkers in the finance industry all drive 90+MPH. i kind of move and talk at a slow relaxed pace. but everyone else..they drive 90 PLUS

people are so intense over there, they speak so quickly. everyone just loves to talk. (like, where do the introverts go? do they have to leave NY?) they have tons of stories that they just roll off. boom boom boom. sometimes it was hard to get a word in. when i read DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF, i remember a section saying something like "in order to reduce stress, you shouldn't cut people off. let them finish what they are saying. then speak". i try to always let people finish, not cutting them off. but in NY, if you want to speak, you need to cut people off. i remember this one time specifically, it was out during 'social drinks', it was me and 3 other people in a conversation. and it was boom boom boom conversation. person 1 would tell a story, person 2 would have a follow up story starting with "oh yeah, my buddy's ex girlfrend...", then person 3 would ask a quick question, then person 2 would answer with a short story, then person 1 would add his two-cents. JUST BOOM BOOM BOOM. no breaks, at all. i could not get a single word in without cutting someone off. i was just nodding my head off. when i finally did want to say something, i had to slightly start to raise my hand to get attention. i drive 70mph, slow down please

most of the speakers were older, and have families. they were all very sharp and seemed successful. i was definitely out of my league
*tangent
i once saw someone post a meme on instagram that said "everyone is talking about their boyfriends and girlfriends, and i'm over here like 'i like naps'". when we were at some networking event, people were talking about their careers and families. and i just thought "everyone is talking about careers and children, and i'm over like worldstar and deadspin". or "everyone is talking about New york city, boston, Chicago and i'm over here like it's Asparagus Season!"