We New Yorkers have an attitude that is finely honed by having to deal with typical corn-fed Mid-Western rubes who stand around gaping at the monuments and skyscrapers while we try to get to the other end of the block to make a month's rent in three weeks.
(Just kidding...see how these social prejudgments and biases aren't so funny when you're on the receiving end?)
New York shopkeepers and business people are the way they are ("brusque" is an understatement) because we hear the mantra all day, every day: "I want, I need, I should have, I deserve, I'm entitled...doesn't it come in other colors...I can get it cheaper on Amazon."
As my old pal Frankie so eloquently put it "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." Put another way "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."
New Yorkers, being at the Center of the Universe, lead.
