Downfalls of Being a New Yorker

New York City has so many advantages. 
You can get Chinese food/pizza slices/warm cookies at any time of night, any day of the year. 
You can hear 50 different languages spoken (and not just when you're outside the UN).
You can ride the subway from the Bronx to Queens for just $2.50.

I love the convenience of restaurants, stores, and coffee shops on every corner. I love that you can find virtually anything you need within a 2 mile radius (especially in Manhattan). I love that there is essentially no need for a car...except on very few occasions.

Every so often, you have to buy something awkward. Whether that be an over-sized painting, a piece of furniture, or something else that is too light to justify paying for home delivery but too awkward to carry home, you really wish you had a car. 

On my way home from work the other day, I looked out towards the street and saw my reflection. A man happened to be walking by, carrying a very large mirror facing outwards, thus reflecting the entire sidewalk scene. While the effect was pretty cool, it was an uncomfortable moment for all sidewalk goers, and the man looked miserable about the amount of attention he was attracting. While there is always the option to take a cab, it is inevitable that some amount of walking with your purchase will be required (and then of course the awkward transfer from street-to-cab and cab-to-street). Ultimately, you will end up looking like a fumbling idiot, while everyone else evaluates the quality of your purchase.

I have also encountered this awkward problem when buying personal items from the drugstore. For some reason, every single drug store's bags are made out of translucent plastic. Unless you triple bag your items (thereby single-handedly destroying 1% of the earth's atmosphere in the process), everyone you pass on the street will know if you prefer Playtex over Tampax. The solution, of course, is to use tote bags, but let's be honest: even the most environmentally-conscious New Yorker never remembers to bring reusable bags every time.