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There are points of reference, I think, that we can adjust, but often don't. For example, I am used to an East Coast rhythm in table service in restaurants, and when I have been someplace like Santa Fe, I have run into some weird "manyana" attitude that makes me crazy. In the restaurant of one of the best hotels in town, not only was the service like molasses, but the waitress screwed up the order and was completely unapologetic. (As you might imagine, I was pretty iffy about being in New Mexico to begin with). In other instances, I think it is a sort of cost/benefit calculus: if you like ethnic restaurants, foreign films, museums, and feel like you are not getting into the city as much as you would like, then you think about moving closer. But finally, I think there is the sheer romance of it all: the monuments, the boulvards and parks, the hum of commerce, the bustle of purposeful humanity---- civilization! |
