In New York City, only the strong survive. Only the people who can handle the strain of the rent costs, the guilt of ordering two drinks at dinner, and the fortitude necessary to handle daily subway rides can live here.
Here's the thing. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, and you know that. However, you've already proven to yourself you can make it here.
Now, maybe you'd like to live somewhere where every day isn't a struggle to survive.
Maybe you'd like to live somewhere with a triple digit rent, where people on the street are friendly, and where *gasp* people actually settle down and get married and have kids. You remember the urban myth that there's something called a backyard, and you think maybe you'd like to have one.
Read on to discover 9 sure fire signs you are very over this city.
1. You spend most of your time angry
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Being constantly angry is a surefire sign it may be time for you to break up with NYC.
Here are the symptoms: everything in this blasted city makes you angry. Everything from people cutting in front of you at the subway turnstile to blasting horns to cabs cutting you off in the crosswalk.
The sad truth of the situation is that if you're spending most of your day furious with the smog, the tall buildings, the fact that you can't see the stars, and having to rush everywhere all the time, the city's lost its magic and you might be ready to move on.
2. You're sick of being broke
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Another easy-to-spot time you may be done with NYC is when the strain of NYC's priciness starts to wear on you.
You'll know this is happening to you when you start getting out of the city whenever you can, and relishing the restaurant prices in other cities.
If you cheer when the bill comes in another city, you're probably sick of NYC's prices. If you dread putting the rent check in the mail, that doesn't necessarily mean you're sick of NYC, that means you're normal.
However, if you find yourself browsing apartment listings in other cities and fantasizing about those prices, that probably does mean you're sick of NYC.
3. You spend most of your time in your apartment
trfrazier Made it to Friday on my first full week back to work! #itsfriday #netflixallweekend #byebyematernityleave #ineedwineforthis
The truth is that it does not make sense to spend money on NYC's rent prices if you're not going to take advantage of the city.
We live in the cultural nexus of the universe, and we pay good money to do it. If you're taking full advantage of NYC, you should have a colorful social life, you should go to concerts and readings and food events.
If you're sick of the city, that probably means you're not taking advantage of it. You're tired of all the pretentiousness and the crowds and you spend most of your time watching Netflix on your couch.
4. You get out of the city whenever you can
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If you're the first person to cheer whenever your friends suggest an out-of-city trip, that is probably a solid sign you're over the city.
Who are we kidding? You're probably the one suggesting the out-of-city trips to all your begrudging friends.
If you find yourself constantly browsing mountain houses, Florida condos, or any other vacation premises on the internet, odds are you're over this city.
If you find yourself boarding a train multiple weekends in a row, if you look around and see yourself in Penn Station every Friday after work so you can get out of the madhouse of this city, you're probably over it as well.
5. It doesn't excite you anymore
When people get all worked up about Central Park, you roll your eyes. You don't think Central Park is that cool, because it was manmade and it's packed with flocking tourists.
Whenever anyone gets wild about Prospect Park or Randall's Island, you're filled with bitter thoughts about how much better the nature scene is out of the city. You wonder why anyone would care about the tiny slice of nature we get in our concrete filled metropolis.
When people get excited to do NYC things, like seeing eccentric plays and going to bars with live music, you'll go because you like having friends, but you won't like it. You've seen this all before.
,6. You're tired of the people
You're sick of the fact that everyone in this city is the same. All they talk about are the same things; the subway, Trader Joes, what they're doing this weekend, who they hooked up with.
You wonder if you've ever met anyone in this city who didn't remind you of someone you already knew. Does every group of friends have the exact same cast of characters?
You're sick of the pretentiousness, you're sick of how stuck-up everyone is, and most of all you're sick of getting judged by what neighborhood you live in, whether you have a doorman, and every other meter of elitism that determines your status in this city.
For once, you'd like someone to smile at your on the street or judge you for the contents of your soul. Would that be too much to ask?
7. Nothing surprises you anymore
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Oh, a pantsless guy on the subway? Pshhh... you've seen it before. How about a guy lighting a cigarette on the subway? Well, that doesn't shock you. You've seen that more than once.
You can't get riled up about stepping in dog poop, because it's happened to you so often you're numb to ruined shoes and smelly feet.
When you see two people screaming at each other on the sidewalk, brandishing threats of violence, you're not scared for your safety. You're just annoyed they're blocking the sidewalk.
These are all telltale signs that you're over the city, because you really should be scared when someone in your vicinity is threatening to knife another. However, you're just not.
8. You would love to get married someday
Let's face it. You're tired of everyone's bullsh*t. If you're not dealing with someone who only texts you when they're drunk on the weekends, you're dealing with someone whose idea of a romantic date is to chug tequila together at Pour House trivia night.
Of course, you've fallen in love a few times in this city, but you eventually decided traveling an hour-and-a-half on the subway from Harlem to Brooklyn was not worth the strife.
The fact of the matter is that dating here sucks, and you often wish you lived elsewhere, just so you'd have any shot of someday settling down.
9. You want to start a fistfight with tourists
Just once, you'd love to get to work on a day where there aren't people spread out with maps in your path, or stopping you on your jog to take a picture of them by the Central Park Lake.
You get it. They took a very expensive flight to get here and they've never seen buildings this tall. Since you're hungover and late for work, though, you don't really have much patience for it.
You find yourself doing deep breathing exercises almost daily to stop yourself from punching tourists in the face. That's how you really know you just might be very over this city.
Check out 7 Struggles of Being Single During the Fall Season in NYC.