Back when our four now adult daughters were in elementary and junior high, we made a much-anticipated, first-time family trip to New York City.
Coming from a small town in Washington, I was a bit nervous about navigating the crowds, subways, taxis and so on, and consequently planned our excursions down to the minutest of details. Adding to my nervousness, I was warned by friends that people on the East Coast could be a bit unfriendly and sometimes less than helpful to hapless tourists.
My general observations took in the demeanor of store clerks as well as people we came into contact with on the streets and in elevators. Compared to the West Coast, where walking into a store you are more often than not greeted with eye contact and ear-to-ear smiles, in New York there was definitely a greater reserve. It was not off-putting, just different.
We — all six of us (Mom and Dad plus middle school twins, a fourth-grader, and a first-grader) — successfully traversed the city and took in the Statue of Liberty, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and even an off-Broadway play. My confidence was building. Apparently the confidence of Angie, our 9-year-old fourth-grader, was building as well.
