Is the world really so small?

Since I have moved to New York, I have run into--on average--one person I know per week.  I'm not exaggerating.  The world can't be so small. The theory of small circles that we go in is more likely. But still.  At a party in Park Slope this week, for instance, which I was invited to by a very new friend, there were no less than four other people there I knew. Three from college and one even from high school. This is a very small town.

Yesterday walking on the street, I ran into my favorite style photographer.  He is the sweetest man, and we met in Paris outside the Crillon after the Lanvin men's show.  Since then, I have run into him twice on the streets of Lower Manhattan not during fashion season, when our paths are much more likely to intersect.  He told me about Cary Grant's best movies which I have to see, so anyone with a DVD copy of The Philadelphia Story should come over this weekend. I'll make the popcorn.

At a cocktail party I schlepped to in Greenwich, CT, for work, I recognized a girl I had taken a semester of Italian with...seven years ago.  She's working in PR for an Italian men's tailored clothing company, clearly putting those language skills to work.

The girl from high school who was at this party I had already run into once on the subway. We were on the same car riding from Brooklyn (after the Lauryn Hill concert) to the LES.  We barely knew each other in high school, but there you have it.

While the party I went to in Brooklyn was a very enjoyable gathering, I was disappointed to discover a subtle tension in the air when the conversation turned to real estate (as it inevitably does in this city) and my conversation partners were not living in Manhattan. I do live in Manhattan, and this seemed to be the source of a frisson. 

I have nothing against living in Brooklyn. I think it must be quite nice. I looked for apartments there. But I hadn't ruled out living in Manhattan and preferred to start my New York experience on the island, in the thick of it all, to see what it's like. I anticipate a move to Brooklyn eventually. It's quiet there, pretty, more spacious and for the most part less expensive.  But at this party and in other instances since I've moved here, I felt the need to explain and justify my decision to live in Soho to many of the people I met who live outside.  Does it really matter that much? I hope not.

Comments

[Zanna]

You write very well.