The mysteries of NYC explained

I've got this love/hate relationship with NYC at the moment. At one moment, I love it here. The subway is so amazing--the big buildings, the people, the lights. But being in NY for so long has made me understand what I appreciate about the suburbs. There are still plenty of things I would change about the suburbs, but there are a few things that I miss. Qdoba, Chik-Fil-A, Carraba's, McAllister's Deli, Planet Smoothie, my bed, the smell of fresh cut lawn, a few other things, but that's most of it. I certainly don't miss worrying about gas prices, though.

The thing that had always baffled me-- several different friends had mentioned that people urinate on the street in NY. Gross and why? Well, I finally figured it out. There are no restrooms in Manhatten. If you go to a Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, or Virgin Superstore (for those of you who don't know, this is a gigantic record store--not a place where you can buy virgins or anything that relates to being a virgin), you will find a restroom and if it's not out of order, then you are having a good day. If you go anywhere else, say Jamba Juice or Chipotle, the restrooms are locked because they don't want people coming in off the streets just to use them. I think it's a marketing tactic. Buy something and we'll let you use our facilities. Makes sense, but it creates a very difficult situation for out of towners who, say are on crutches, don't move quickly, and don't know their way around. I think I actually saw some guy urinating next to Banana Republic today and I definately smelled urine when I was walking home from the train station. Granted, the bulk of it does seem to come from homeless people--that would be people who don't have homes and sleep on the steps at the subway station, which is entirely different from the "vagrants" who ask for money in Cincinnati--posers. So, the mystery has been solved. Now I can sleep at night.