Dr.Kido's@World Home
E-mail
}?
Brooklyn Memoir @

@Brooklyn Memoir (6)@

Brooklyn versus Manhattan


Brooklyn Bridge:
a bridge connecting two cultures
Brooklyn and Manhattan have been rivals and competing with each other in many ways. In baseball, the LA Dodgers were originally the Brooklyn Dodgers, although the younger generation might not know it. As everybody knows, New York Yankees has been always a Manhattan team. Those two teams were rivals for many years. Both of them won their league's pennant many times and fought each other at the World Series.

The theme, Brooklyn vs Manhattan often appears in movies and theaters. Most of the time, an unknown boy or girl from Brooklyn becomes famous in Manhattan. Let's take " Saturday Night Fever" for example. Tony, a hero from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn played by John Travolta, dances at a Brooklyn disco in every Saturday, and wins the dance competition. But in the end he looks towards Manhattan for his future, as does his dance partner, where she tells him, "all the cultured people live." Well, I have to admit that anything brilliant happens in Manhattan.

It can happen in the business world, too. Anyone doing small business in Brooklyn is seeking a chance to do a business in Manhattan, if they are ambitious enough. Population wise, Brooklyn is much bigger than Manhattan. Therefore, there are lot more residents who are loyal to their hometown of Brooklyn. Imagine, if someone from Brooklyn becomes famous and is asked where he is from, he surely replies that he is from Brooklyn, New York. Not just simply New York, never. In case if one is from Manhattan, he just says, "I am from New York."

I wonder if you remember the long-run Broadway musical, "Chorus Line". It is a musical about competition among young dancers who are aiming to star in a Broadway play. There is a scene of the audition. Each one is interviewed and answers where they are from. There is always one from Brooklyn. The cheer from the audience is most prominent at that time. It is from the Brooklyn people, of course.

I, myself, lived in Manhattan and worked in Brooklyn, so I choose my hometown depending on the situation. Sneaky? I frequently am consulted by American patients in Osaka. When I'm asked by the patient where I was trained in US, I always answer as Brooklyn. To survive in 3-year residency training in Brooklyn is very tough even for American residents. If I say "I was being trained in Brooklyn for 3 years. " smiling gently, everybody thinks I'm a tough guy. Then I sometimes add, "Mike Tyson was my patient." with a wink.


| BACK |

Top

Dr. Kido's office
E-mail:kidot@momo.so-net.ne.jp