Saying Goodbye

Sitting in my apartment at my dining table, procrastinating on a Calculus quiz, listening to Ella and looking at the many boxes that hold my belongings. The movers will be here on Monday to pick my life up and move it down south. My goodbye party is tomorrow. A few months ago, I thought this moment would never come and now it is here front and center. I know I sound whinny, but I have never really lived anywhere else (aside from 4 months in London during college). Making this even harder is the great group of friends I have here. I know I'll make new friends but I honestly wish I could bring all of my friends with me to school. Then again, I probably wouldn't graduate if I did!

As of today, I have been jobless for one whole week. I thought I would pull my hair out but I have been so busy with other things, I haven't really even thought about work aside from the crap job HR did wrapping things up for me. Asking for a resignation letter from me at 4pm on the day of my departure, trying to tell me I am an hourly employee when I have been salaried for the past three years, paying me as though I still work there (according to today's paystub I received) and trying to get out of paying me for unused vacation days really makes me wonder how they could classify that place as a Fortune 500 company...I don't know if it works this way at other companies, but I actually had to call IT to ask them to shut down my account because no one came by to wipe my hard drive AND I had to ask them what they wanted me to do with my blackberry. I also still have my Sec.ureID and no one seems to care. Insane, I tell you! Insane!

Here's a list of things I'll miss about NYC, in no particular order:

1-The speed at which life moves. Everyone moves about with a sense of purpose. Whether or not they really have one is irrelevant.

2-My friends. They are the music loving sort. There is always some band playing somewhere and they know about it. Oh and then there are the endless conversations about music which encompass rants about our undying love for our ipods.

3-Ne.w Yo.rk Maga.zine. Pouring through the concert listings, movie listings, social events, and articles on things only NYers can relate to, like subway etiquette.

4-Despite the seemingly vast size of the city, the feeling of knowing just where to go to get the best of everything. Want a great bagel? Go to H&H. Need cheap luggage in a hurry? Head to Chinatown. Want some good Soul Food, head to Ruthie's. Need your nails done at midnight? Head to Cleo. Want indie coffee? Look for the MUD truck in Cooper or Union Sq. You get the point...

5-The gentrified hood. I'll miss my neighborhood supermarket where one can shop to the sounds of Young Jeezy. The cafe where I can get a cupcake and Soy Mocha. The corner bodega that sells single lightbulbs. The neighborhood wine shop that will patiently discuss their variety of Spanish wine and delivers. The slightly crazy guy you can hire to push your stuff home in a shopping cart. The crowd of people outside of the Ca.keman Rav.en waiting for their slice of Red Velvet Cake.

6-Running into people on the street. In a city of approximately 8 million people (according to the 2000 Census), you can bump into people you know. I find this so amazing. I am not even talking about running into people who have similar routines as you do, like commuting to work on the same subway line. I mean, true random run ins. Like I have bumped into someone I hadn't seen in 10 years while crossing Broadway. Ran into someone from college while walking down Third Avenue on the Upper East Side. Finding out someone from high school lives just three blocks from you, that sort of random. Gotta love it.

Ok, I am sure there another 100 things I will miss about living in NY, but I really should get back to this confounded Calculus quiz. If I don't pass the class, I don't go to business school. Yikes!