Why I Miss NYC

There are many things that I love about San Francisco--the Victorian apartments, fresh produce, relative lack of vermin running around in the streets. But the longer I'm here the more I notice a certain intellectual laziness that can be best be summed up by what I witnessed on the muni this morning.

When I walked down to my stop at Masonic and Haight I saw at least 20 people waiting for the bus. Usually, there are only a handful--the late stragglers who don't mind being a few minutes late for work in the morning. But, they must have missed the early bus. Or there was no early bus.

Anyway, the 7 came, and I pushed my way on and got a seat. I'm reading perfect commute material, Sloane Crosley's "I Was Told There'd be Cake." The essays are easy to pick up and put down, and there's no plot to follow or remember.

Across from me, someone was reading "Snow Falling on Cedars" and next to me....next to me sat a woman who was struggling to complete the crossword in People magazine.

This begs the questions of:
1. why anyone would bother doing the crossword in People?
2. how anyone could struggle to come up with the answers?

Was it the "Last Name of Han in Star Wars" that had her stumped?
I myself don't do crosswords. But the crosswords I choose not to do are in the NY Times. Occasionally, I think "hmmm....I really should start doing these puzzles." But, then the Modern Love or the Magazine catches my eye and I'm relieved of the burden.