Can I get a witness?

I found a page on NYTimes.com where people write under a 'dear diary' header some New York related experience. I read this one today and was amused then relieved to know that I'm not the only native Californian whose perception of reality is being distorted by the city's steep learning curve.

Dear Diary:

My husband, Daniel, works on the 41st floor of an office building in Times Square, overlooking the Hudson River.

When US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing in the water in January, Daniel and some of his colleagues gathered by his window. A co-worker walked by and asked, “What’s everyone looking at?”

“A plane just landed in the river,” Daniel answered.

“Oh, I saw that a few minutes ago,” said the co-worker, who had just moved to New York from California. “I thought it looked a bit weird, but then I told myself, ‘This is New York,’ and I just went back to work.”

- Rebecca Wolf

Amen, my Californian brother (or sister). Together we shall walk through this city of strangeness.