There are a lot of smart people that live in NY, not all of them, mind you, but we've got a lot of people who are above average intelligence. You more or less have to be just to survive here and adapt faster than most other places just because everything changes so fast. When the aliens come to study us, (and really it's only a matter of time) they'll perhaps view Manhattan as their own Galapagos Islands and study all the different states of human evolution. I think another reason why so many people with exceptional intelligence gravitate to our fair metropolis, are the schools, of which we have many world class institutions. And many of those institutions have students who are away from home for the first time which can be trying for someone who's never been out of Indiana.
We got a rush order from somewhere in the Hoosier State, Clinton, I think, "that needed to be delivered immediately" to a private, very large and expensive learning institution near Washington Square. I was down there, with the Vanda orchids, Sweet William, and purple hyacinths in an hour and buzzed into the dormitory. A girl who can only be described as an extra in a movie about New York in the 80s answered, complete with black eye-liner, Anarchy in the UK t-shirt, streaked blue hair, and a studded collar. When she saw me she just rolled her eyes and invited me in. The room looked like a photo after the Berlin Wall was taken down: one side was completely covered in clothes, toiletries, books and papers and the other looked as though it were trying desperately to hold back the encroaching chaos with a clear delineation right down the middle. I could only imagine the late-night negotiations that had prompted this diplomatic state of affairs. Tucked in the corner of her bed, as though terrified of being consumed in the dark matter, was a young woman who could have stepped out of an Laura Ashley catalogue. Her eyes lit up when she saw the arrangement and squealed: "Oh my God! Daddy!" I handed the flowers to the bright-eyed midwesterner while the Queen of the Goths looked disgusted with this transaction. "Flowers. That's original." The Dark Poet of the Underworld sneered. The perky Red State refugee simply narrowed her eyes and retorted: "I guess we can't all invent a new fashion statement that's never been seen before, can we?"
I left the young women to work out their issues and it occurred to me that some people are tougher than you think. It also helps when you have a Dad in your corner.
