Brown and Blue New York

Back from a lovely jaunt to New York City with the Stanford women (namely, Nana, Mom and Anne)!

Throughout the trip we were constantly bombarded by street merchants eager to sell us anything from a bus tour to a scarf or hot dog.  It's pretty easy to see how these aggressive salespeople recognize tourists. I imagine their "Tourist Checklist" would look something like this:

Walks in a zig-zag pattern with head turned up to the sky

Camera and posed photo ops

Nose stuck in a map

Stands at a corner looking about in confusion

Ambles into the crosswalk just as the taxis rev their engines

Bumbles against New York walking traffic

Fails several attempts to slide Subway card and pass the gate

 Being the sleek city women we are, we NEVER gave these sneaky marketers any reason to utilize their smooth sales techniques. However, when one impetuous young peddler tried to draw us into his bike carriage for a ride through Central Park, I thought I'd play it street smart.

"Do I LOOK like a tourist to you??"  I retorted with a smile.

"Oh, no, not at all," he quickly assured.  "Even natives can enjoy a ride in the park!"