NYC Real(i)ty Speak V-Day Edition: Believe the hype, NYC

As hard as it is to live/buy/rent here, earn a living wage, and educate a child, there are reasons that 8 million of us stick it out and more come every day. We love New York because...

1. Your child's school auction brochure reads like a bucket list. There are a lot of cool people, cool jobs, and cool things to do here and, even if you are just an investment banker or a doctor, you can do them too for an opening bid of $50.00.
2. You can spend $5 or $5,000 on a meal and they will both be delicious.
3. A disproportionate number of TV shows and movies take place here because New York City is where it's AT (and btw, Seinfeld and 30 Rock are reality shows, not sit-coms).
4. We walk.  Everywhere. And it is never boring or tiresome because every block is its own destination.
5. Because it is all outside for the taking AND you can have it all delivered inside.  Even on snow days. 
6. Central. Park. 
7. So many talented people congregate here that even if you are as far off-Broadway as a child's music class, chances are the performers will outperform a typical touring company of Phantom.
8. The doormen - they're even faster and sometimes more effective than 911.
9. The flowers in the bodegas are cheaper and more beautiful than anything you will grow in a suburban garden.
10. Hate them or love them, the throngs of tourists are a daily reminder that the rest of the world wants to experience what you take for granted.

So believe the hype.  Forget the bed bugs. Count your blessings.  You live here.

Veronica X. is a Canadian by birth, an Upper West Sider by nature, and an Upper East Sider by choice and circumstance. She has finally found an apartment big enough for her family, books, and shoes and is now in the process of renovating it.