Did you just move to New York City? Are you considering moving to NYC? Are you just curious about what it takes to be a New Yorker from afar?
Here's the thing: There are some very specific traits that one is required to possess to be a real New Yorker.
New Yorkers worship pizza and cross the street whenever we want. We're used to sprinting after subway trains and being confined in small spaces with a lot of other people.
We're also tough. We've had to become tough, or else we'd become subject to the whims of sidewalk solicitors and mean cashiers. All cashiers aren't mean here, but we've all gotten ourselves into a tiff or two with a really unkind one.
Are you confused about whether you have what it takes to be a real New Yorker? Well if any of the following apply to you, you don't. Read on to see what 9 signs confirm you're not a real New Yorker.
1. You hate pizza
michael_lopez33 Estoy tanto tiempo en la pizzería trabajando q deberían ponerme una cama así a mi aquí #hatepizza#
Everyone in New York loves pizza. In order to be a New Yorker you have to nurture a genuine obsession for pizza. Loving bagels and coffee fanatically won't hurt either.
[anad]
We don't care what you say or how many times you've visited the Empire State Building. If you hate pizza, you're not a real New Yorker. That is not up for argument. Just to qualify, you don't have to be in love with pizza, but you do have to accept it as a viable food option. There's always pizza.
2. You've never jaywalked
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If you're so law abiding that you've never jaywalked in your life, we hate to break it to you but you're going to stick out like Donald Trump at a Bob Marley concert if you're constantly waiting for the signal to change.
Real New Yorkers care more about getting to our destinations in a timely fashion than we do about whether or not it's our turn to cross the street. We will risk our lives to be one minute earlier to happy hour.
If you're not willing to make that sacrifice, you don't belong here.
3. You hate noise
Newsflash: if you can't fall asleep in the blaring cacophony of sirens, horns, and yelling people, you're going to get extremely sleep deprived extremely quickly.
It's not that real New Yorkers love noise or anything. We're just totally used to it, and unfazed by it at this point.
We're still human, though. We're just as subject to irritation as everyone else when an Earth shatteringly loud siren rips by while we're on the phone. We'll get just as mad about that as any non-New Yorker. Actually, we'll probably get more mad. Most of us have short fuses. Because of the noise.
4. You're not good at ignoring people
Good luck making it down the street if you can't ignore anyone. You'll be stopped more times on the streets of NYC than you've ever been stopped in your life.
You'll be stopped by someone who wants you to see their comedy show, someone who wants you to sign their petition, and someone who just wants you to listen to them talk for a half hour. Before long, you're going to need to figure out how to avoid these advances.
[anad2]
Here is some sage wisdom for ignoring people on the street: Never make eye contact. Never feel guilty about not stopping when someone wants you to stop. Your time is yours, and it's valuable.
If you can't harden up enough to ignore a street side solicitor, you're going to have a hard time living in NYC. That's just the truth.
5. You hate small spaces
plaidninja I used to think the 7 train was crowded #ctrain #nycsubway #crowdedsubway #crowdedsubwaytrain #crowdedsubways #mta #mtanyc #MTASUBWAY #mtanycsubway #COMMUTE #commuter #commuterlife
Hate to break it to you, but in order to really be a real New Yorker, you're going to have to become okay with small spaces.
This means small apartments, small spots on the subway, small walking area on the sidewalk, and small places in people's hearts. Just kidding about the hearts thing, sort of.
If it's very important that you live in a giant apartment with a lot of room for activities, and not pay a ton of money every month for that apartment, you're probably better off living in another city. We're sorry, but we mean it.
,6. You worry about germs a lot
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The subway doesn't go well for the germ-worrier. You'll probably give yourself several ulcers worrying about the guy that coughed on you or the subway pole that's been touched by hundreds of other people throughout the day.
Real New Yorkers have to buck up and accept the fact that we're going to be constantly up in each other's stuff. The smelly exhale from the person next to us on the subway? We'll just have to ignore that.
[anad]
The case of scabies we caught from the subway? We'll just have to try our best to wipe that experience from our memories, now won't we?
7. You stress about money all the time
The out-of-towner who gets riled up about saving money and not buying expensive things is going to have a hell of a time handling NYC's steep cost of living.
Anyone who's ever going to evolve to the state of Real New Yorker is going to have to acclimate him or herself to the idea that a reasonable price for a drink is $10, and going out to dinner costs at least $30.
These are tough facts to swallow but the real New Yorker must, in fact, swallow them.
8. You can't handle too much excitement
bebasta Byebye New York, it was wonderful! #travelny #traveller #travel #ny #nyc #newyork #newyorkcity #USA #manhattan
The real New Yorker will encounter a ton of unbelievable situations on the regular. There will be celebrity sightings, insane people on the subway, and the wildest situations you could ever imagine.
Real New Yorkers emerge from a blackout only to find themselves at 5 a.m. on the Brooklyn Bridge watching the sunrise with new friends.
[anad2]
Real New Yorkers will find themselves as extras in a video shoot before long, and living out all their most insane dreams.
If you like when things stay completely the same, and never get a little crazy, you really shouldn't move here.
9. You're not up for any challenges
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Real New Yorkers, we believe in ourselves. There's no way we'd make it here if we didn't.
If you back down at the prospect of walking far and hard every day, pushing your way onto the subway to make a train, and just barely making your rent every month, it's not going to work out for you here.
Real New Yorkers have been conditioned to look a challenge square in the face, and confront it. That's why we always say if we can make it here, we can make it anywhere.
Check out 11 Dumb Questions New Yorkers Get Asked Way Too Often.
[Feature Image Courtesy of Instagram]