People in NYC are not all that mean.

I've been waiting for my own Overheard in New York moment, and here it is.

Girl, about ten: Pain is your friend. If you don't have pain, you wouldn't know if you got hurt. Pain is good for you.

SO TRUE. Without pain, I wouldn't have known if I'd been crossed, backstabbed, betrayed, lied to and cheated on, eh?

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I just watched 500 (Days of Summer) and I swear it is FANTASTIC. If you've ever been in love, suffered from unrequited love, liked someone back but just not enough, had your cynical ideals about love proven wrong, had your romantic ideals about love proven right, or WANT to have them proven wrong/right, you will love this movie. And EVERYONE has at least gone through one of those so you will love the movie. It will effectively strike a chord in everyone's heart, male or female, cynic or romantic. You must watch it.

It's been a long time since I felt so effervescently happy after watching a great movie. Of course, I had a wonderful day out as well. You know, I've discovered that people here are really complimentative. This sales assistant at Goodwill said, "your short hair's really pretty on you." Then at Levain Bakery, the upbeat girl at the counter said she liked my watch. I'd have just thought, oh, you know, they're sales people - sales people say nice things to their customers. Not that I doubt that they mean it, it's just that being on the front line makes making small talk a lot easier and perhaps even obligatory.

So I walked out of the cinema feeling all aglow with warmth and happiness, vaguely smiling to myself and looking off into the distance thinking happy thoughts. I was waiting to cross the street, when I heard someone say "Love your hair." I turned to acknowledge him and smiled widely, and walked on home with the smile plastered on my face. I have no idea how I am going to afford a designer haircut in NYC on a student's budget, though.

I want to watch the movie again. It reminds me of being in love. Sigh.