On the whole I'd rather be in Lancaster County

Anthropology prof: Amish youth in Pennsylvania have the opportunity to go out and experience mainstream society for a period of time before deciding whether or not to leave Amish society. An overwhelming amount decide to return to Amish society. That really tells you something about the cohesiveness of this religious sect! (pause) Then again, maybe it's just because Philadelphia is the city they all go out into.

--Classroom, Fordham University

via Overheard in New York

Year one in New York City: Your humble scribe is not wholly convinced that he has the chops to "make it there/anywhere" but plugs along, gritting his teeth through significant portions of it.

Until...

Years 2-5: The center of the known universe is at the corner of 14th Street and 7th Avenue. If you stand there at a quiet moment, such as three in the morning, you can actually discern everything orbiting around you, but quiet moments are so rare that this kind of thing almost never happens.

And then,

Years 6-12: New York City is a fine and unique place to live and work, but it's not all that.

The "Philadelphia" crack, above, is the sort of thing one used to hear all the time, as a joke, from a certain class of New Yorker.

I *won't* miss that about NYC.