Image by Nick Pauly (manicmaurice at Flickr)

When people talk about Australia they talk about the warm weather and all that goes with it. And how friendly the people are. When London is mentioned, it’s the gloomy weather and the people. When NYC is mentioned. It’s not the weather. Or the people. It’s the movie icons and the fashion and the designer labels and celebrities and museums.

Admittedly it may be hard to talk about the people since no one in NYC seems to be a born and bred ‘true’ New Yorker. However, maybe that’s just it. Maybe the concept of a NYC New Yorker isn’t one who has lived there for all or most of his or her life. Partly because they don’t really exist and partly because they don’t epitomise the energy that NYC is not only renowned for but simply is.

So perhaps the real New Yorkers are the ones working in the diners and restaurants, serving the tourists and workers and celebrities that are in and out, not to escape the energy and crowds, but to feel it.

And boy do you feel it in every pub, café and diner and bar. The energy of people believing in something bigger than themselves. The energy of people believing in their dream. The energy of people believing the only thing preventing them from achieving that dream is geographical distance. The energy of people doing something about that, the only way they can; moving to NYC.

The easiest way to make money in the city is to bet that ever single waiter and waitress is a future Broadway star who eventually wants to become bi-coastal and make it in LA as well. They don’t come to the city to see the statue of liberty or the empire state building. They don’t come to see the bright lights or the fashion or celebrities. They come with a dream and ambition.

They know that most will never make it. But they unapologetically believe they are the exception to the rule that applies to everyone else. Most of all, they come to be a part of the dream. The dream that collectively is almost bigger than the city itself. Like the never fading brightness of lights and noise and rubbish, they are not afraid to say why they are there. What they came to do. All you have to do is ask one where they are from and why they ended up in NYC and you can discover actresses and actors whose names you will long forget but whose names the world is yet to meet scream.

So look closely at the name badges of those who serve you your next drink in the big apple. The only way to get to know and experience a town or city is to meet the people that live there. Who represent the place and who subconsciously know all the things that you need to rely on Lonely Planet to know. Things they know so subconsciously they’ll look at you blankly if you ask about them. Lonely planet might have already told you the best place to eat. These waiters and waitresses might not know how to get the best photo opportunity. But they know the best time to go anywhere to avoid lining up, or better yet, the place that does great food that you don’t have to line up for. They know whether or not you should split a meal because they’re impossibly big or whether you should split several because there are three or four must have meals.

The thing about these New Yorkers that make them the best go to people for tourists is that they’ve seen the city through the eyes of an outsider as well. They’ve watched strangers assist strangers and been astonished by the hospitality of the people in such a crowded and busy city.

They’re the real New Yorkers, not because they support the right baseball team or don’t bat an eyelid if a celebrity orders a drink from them. But because they create the energy that is synonymous with the city that never sleeps. In fact, many of them rely on tips to cover the fare for the three hour train ride home; to their quiet life away from the lights and billboards that will one day spell their name.