sammO*

“it’s not what you know, it’s about who you know,” a common term that might be under looked, but it speaks a great volume. There are many elements to being successful in the city of New York, and one of them is social skills.

There is a wide range of social skills that one can have to make it in New York. Beforehand, there are characteristics one must have to even be considered a “new Yorker.” Majority of the New York residents have and still travel via public transportation. As to the residents of long island who travel mostly by their personal automobiles. We have become so used to taking the trains into the city that we reject the idea of driving into the city.

Tolerance is another big key factor of making it in New York. We already inhabited the patience needed to squeeze onto the trains during rush hours and morning rushes. Other than the public transportation, patience while driving also takes place. The “bad drivers” and “slow drivers” swarm the highways and streets of New York. It is well expected that this will cause tempers to rise. We learn to tolerate it and keep our cool when it comes to them.

Now to the bigger picture; who you should know. Although you might graduate out of Harvard law school with a 4.0 GPA, you can still be lost in the world of business. Knowing the right people can help you in the long run. Golfing is a great way to meet these highly respected business people. People such as Donald Trump swing their iron on the golf course. If you’re good enough, the internship “hook-ups” begin to approach you.

We, the citizens of New York, all make it in New York because we all use the “melting pot” idea. We are all able to brainstorm our different ideas and put them into one. The melting pot is an analogy for the way mixed societies become more uniform, in which the ingredients in the pot are combined to develop a multi-ethnic society. For example, there are many variations of religion in New York. In other states, people might discriminate against different religions, but here in New York, we accept ones belief and don’t make a big deal out of it.

Expanding more on the idea of the melting pot, we also come to an agreement with fashion. There has become a wider range of fashion in New York in the present day. Designers are leaching off people’s cultures and their styles to create clothes made for everyone. You now see people from different races wearing different types of clothing. Abercrombie and Fitch has become one style of fashion that has been spread throughout New York. It isn’t worn by the stereotypical white person anymore. It is being worn by almost every different culture out there.

Social diversity is what keeps this economy so successful. Without different races and cultures wandering the streets, you would see the same people every day. The minds would become narrower when you do see someone who is socially diverse. Through the diversity, we are able to understand and accept different people more easily. With diversity occurring, there are more ideas thrown into the melting pot to create this better society. And with those better ideas, comes methods of becoming successful in New York.

Hard workers are also recognized in the city. From small business such as street vendors, to the greater extent such as lawyers and such, the recognition of hard work does come out into the light. When someone mentions 53rd and 6th street, they automatically refer to the halal stand that blew New Yorkers away with their delicious food. Their hard work paid off and now produces lines of customers that go around the city blocks.

Success doesn’t come easily. You don’t have to be a big shot entrepreneur to make it in New York. Sometimes it just takes some hard work and dedication, social skills, and diversity to make it to the top of the chain.