I want to be a New Yorker
by Michael Temlin
September 18, 2001

Now more than ever, more than anything, I want to be a New Yorker.  For the past two months, I've actually been making plans to move to the Big Apple. San Francisco, a city which I love dearly, has worn out its welcome for me. I need to move to the only place in the country where I might make a serious attempt at an acting career.

True to the aphorism in that infamous Internet hoax attributed to Kurt Vonnegut, I have lived in California for too long, and have become soft. I need to spend some time in New York, so I can become hard.  No, not hard.  Tough.  Strong.  Resilient.

I've gone so far as to put my condo up for sale, and I've mentioned the fact freely to all my friends. Last month, I even booked a flight to NYC -- United Airlines Flight 92, SFO to EWR, scheduled to depart on October 17.

The events of the past week have, in a very real way, steeled my resolve.  Now, more than ever, I want to be a New Yorker. I want to live in a place that makes others so jealous of me that they'd do anything to take it away from me.

I want to live with people who've now been toughened beyond all reasonable expectation -- a people who can endure blinding blizzards in the winter, sweltering triple-digit humidity in the summer, and STILL make the conscious decision to live in what is essentially the perfect target for anyone who wants to strike at the heart of what America treasures.

I want to live in a place where everyone has anger (yes, I've got plenty of my own), but everyone also has compassion. Today, that describes the average New Yorker perfectly. I'll be the first to admit that I'm in search of whatever shred of compassion I have left in my soul.

I want to be a New Yorker, like the brave and unyielding souls who are feverishly clawing their way through what's left of 220 floors of steel and concrete in the hope that maybe they'll find a mere handful of survivors out of a possible 5,000. Maybe if I pay attention, these people can teach me a few survival techniques. My mind, body and soul could sure use it.

Now more than ever, I want to be a New Yorker. The part about the acting career is almost incidental.

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