New York Daily Photo Analytics

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

No Sir


I was discussing last evening the disarmingly polite ways of the southern American with a friend who has recently been vacationing there regularly (see my story, Luray Caverns, about my first experience there as a child). When working with customers on the phone, as I have over the years, I have noticed that with men from the South, every question I have asked in respect to their order has been answered with "Yes, Sir" or "No, Sir." Perhaps they have not traveled the roadways of New York City, where they may quickly want to trade their polite phraseology for some more appropriate expletives.

There are vistas common to New Yorkers who travel by car that are not often seen in photos, as they can only be seen by a vehicle on a roadway. The photo was taken in Brooklyn from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, heading north with views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan with the Empire State Building. The Brooklyn Heights promenade (with similar views of the city) looms overhead to the upper right. This view is particularly beautiful at night.

Prudent or not, I have resorted to shooting while driving to capture images with varying results. Digital cameras with various auto settings and the ability to immediately review shots make getting an acceptable "Hail Mary" possible.

On a recent excursion to Staten Island, a photographer friend was giving me a first ride in his new Mini Cooper. With its diminutive size, it is a popular car around New York City. My atypical position as passenger and the challenge of shooting overhead with no sunroof begged for at least an attempt at getting an acceptable photo while moving.

The vista in today's photo is one known to every Brooklynite or traveler who has plied his or her way between Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, using the infamous BQE. The beautiful views are rare and welcome eye candy and respite from a city plagued with unattractive, utilitarian highways usually snarled with traffic.

The BQE, the FDR, the Cross Bronx, the LIE, the Van Wyck, the Grand Central, the Prospect and the Belt. If you live and travel in this city, an acronym or truncated name for a highway is more than adequate to identify these common roadways. Any highway in New York which gives as much trouble to and tries the patience of the traveler, as these roads typically do, does not need to be addressed any more politely than with the shortest possible title. No Sir :)

4 comments:

Mary P. said...

And that vista at night? WOW!!!!

Judit said...

What has the Manhattan views that makes it so magical? ;)

RAoL said...

Wow. We both drove to Staten Island on the same day and took (almost) the same photo on the way back, and then posted it to a photo blog. Our comments are very different, however...

TheKrisHil said...

I am from the south. Born and raised in Texas. Still live here.
I traveled to NYC for the first time in 2006. I was staying with a friend who lives on Long Island. Upon meeting her aunt for the first time, I was asked a question (I can't remember what) and I responded with "Yes ma'am." She looked at me funny then not so covertly whispered to my friend, "She called me ma'am." I was being polite. It's how we speak down here.
I have since amended my ways and only use it in jest or with my friend who knows me. I think I'm being polite, but NY'ers think I'm being smart-ass. lol