It's like, "What are these people saying?" In the never-ending search for lucidity, it seems that New Yorkers are reverting to using exclamations as descriptions. The latest New Yorkism to come to my attention is one that uses a "quoted" comment or question, to describe a reaction. What New Yorkers seem to be doing, is verbalising a direct mental comment, that to them sums up their or another's perceived reaction to some event. It's usually associated with the inevitable, "like". An example. If someone were describing entering a room where there was a chaotic meeting going on, then he wouldn't say, "I went into the room and there was a chaotic meeting going on". Instead it'd be, 'I went in and it's like, "who is running this show?"' Or, if someone was describing seeing someone who they hadn't seen for a long time, and who they didn't remember very well, they'd say, 'Eventually I met him again, and it's like, "who are you?".' As with most expressions, once you notice them, you seem to hear them all the time. It's like, "where have you been?" Swing City This solitary man at Coney Island, waiting, apparently in vain, for a customer to come his way, symbolises what seems to be the plight of many New Yorkers. According to last week's "New York" magazine, there are over three million people in New York City who are single and likely to remain so. The results of the magazine's survey indicate that New Yorkers are too busy and critical to get involved in relationships. I found the comments from some of the 1000 people surveyed to be more interesting than the statistics. And these are pretty intriguing. 9% of those surveyed could not remember when they last had sex. And of the 91% of those who could remember, over 12% had not had sex for over 12 months. 66% of the women surveyed thought a man's "attire" was an important factor in choosing a mate, and 46% thought that a good job was more important than a good partner. Not surprisingly, many of them worried about their fellow New Yorkers being insane. One man is quoted as saying, "It's more like playing Russian roulette. Some girl tells you she works in a pastry shop down the street, but then it turns out she's a terrorist spy who puts on a doggie collar at night at the Vault". A woman is reported as 'snapping', "Every person you meet turns out to be a burn victim or totally crazy or has some weird history". And as with most activities, time was an important factor in the New York dating scene. One man explained that not having sex on the first date was bad because it meant having to wait two weeks for the second date (and therefore one supposes, a chance of sex), by which time, 'it's "who are you?"' And another, on the subject of oral sex, is quoted as complaining, "There's only the most perfunctory acknowledgment of oral sex until you're in a video-renting, Ben and Jerry's-sharing relationship." I was lucky to get my copy of "New York" last week. With the "Living Single" front-page headline, it sold like hotcakes. No doubt the Ben and Jerry man bought it. And read it, alone. "Like, Doing London" In a town where long weekends are few, and annual vacations of ten working days are the norm, it is hard to wind down, or even to get up the energy to travel far from home. We recently went to to the UK for a six day holiday and I felt we were no sooner there and over the jet-lag, than it was time to return. But for many New Yorkers, like Letty Cottin Pogrebin of the New York Times, a six day holiday is a long vacation, and a ten day holiday trip, a "sweep and swagger tour". Writing in last Saturday's Travel Section, Ms. Cottin Pogrebin related the story of her recent three and a half day trip to London. I was truly amazed. In this short time, Ms. Cottin Pogrebin reported that she and spouse Bert, managed to "experience the quintessence of London". They saw three plays and a concert, visited two art galleries, went to an outdoor market, dined out in four restaurants, shopped, walked and even had time for a nap. The mind boggles. I once lived in London for a seven month stretch. After about a month I remember feeling I was experiencing "the quintessence of London" and really starting to get to know the place. Ms. Cottin Pogrebin must be a truly remarkable woman. One of the plays this New York couple saw was Tom Stoppard's, "The Invention of Love". She and Bert appear to have been overwhelmed with the "linguistic knots" in the script. She reports that they were still deconstructing it days after arriving home. Ms. Cottin Pogrebin hopes to be off to Amsterdam soon. I eagerly await her analysis of her quintessential experiences there. It's like "what's with the starry nights?" Your Questions and Comments Tara wrote: I just got turned on to your website and have learned one thing:  you seem to be viewed as the Aussie Apartment Source.  (I must admit, that my search for an apartment or roommate for a twenty-something Aussie friend-of-the-family brought me to your site.)  So I see all these emails from Aussies looking for a place to live in Manhattan.  The guy I am trying to help wants a place long term and is looking to share.  Well, I'm sure this request sounds familiar.  But, have you ever connected people together so they can apartment hunt as roommates? I was also thinking of calling the Australian Consulate.  Or trying to find a sports team (he plays soccer).  If you would be kind enough to comment on this, I would really appreciate it! Getting an apartment in NYC, especially in Manhattan, is not easy. If I knew the answer to this problem, we would not be paying a huge amount for a tiny flat. Your idea of having a service for matching people as room mates is a good one. I'll see if I get feedback from readers, and if so will put up a page where people can post. Meantime, if anyone can help Tara's friend, can they email me and I'll forward any messages on to her. Guy, an Australian living in New York emailed: I was also wanting to ask you a question. I am having an amazing amount of trouble getting a credit card in NY and I was wondering what your experience has been. I'm tried of receiving credit rejection letters ... they all state that my credit record is insufficient or doesn't exist. The secure credit card option requires a deposit of at least $300 dollars but I'm not yet prepared to fork out that kind of money.  Perhaps you know of another way to get around this problem. Any advice would be helpful. I too had the credit card problem, as it seems all Australians do when they arrive here. After years of having an excellent credit rating it is difficult to believe that the banks here will only do a local credit check. After months of frustration I was eventually successful, and now get credit card offers almost daily. I did two things, the second of which I believe was the most successful and applicable to the majority of Australian "aliens" living here. - I applied (and got) an American Express Gold Card. I was able to do this as I had an Australian AMEX Gold card. - I wrote a letter to the Credit Manager of CitiBank. It was a polite letter. Unfortunately I no longer have it. But it was along the lines that I was surprised that a bank as large as CitiBank with a reputation of providing good service, would not do an international credit check, and would knock back a legal resident of the United States who was earning a good salary and who had an excellent credit rating in her country of birth. I explained that I was surprised that CitiBank staff would not be taught the INS regulations and understand that someone on an H1 Visa had a permanent job (by definition), and that the bank would not have an active policy of encouraging professional newcomers to this country to become its customers. That sort of thing. I received a prompt and very polite reply - and a card. I had approached a large number of banks, and CitiBank was the only bank to respond favourably. Of course now the offers are rolling in. Hope this helps. Till next week, Kate You may not publish or reproduce any of the stories from this page, on the Internet or elsewhere, without prior written permission. Quotes or links to Letters from New York, are encouraged however. If you would like to link to Letters from New York, a small graphic and HTML code can be obtained at www.coolabah.com/linkme/linkme.html