New York City, New York

Joan works and lives in New York City. She makes fun of Mark’s outlook on the city: “New York was a true melting pot, but what made a true New Yorker was this or that, a unified belief system of tolerance, of live and let live, that couldn’t be replicated anywhere else. New Yorkers weren’t rude, they were brusque, witty, sharp; they told you exactly what they meant, no bullshit or fake pleasantries. From here, somehow, we wound our way to the Yankees. Every New Yorker has an opinion about them, so what was mine?” (46). Joan cannot relate to Mark’s truly American way of thinking. She views New York City as simply a place to live and not the cultural hub which Mark makes it out to be. She has no opinion on the Yankees or on anything relating to...