Yes or No?

Every trip to New York begins in the same way – being overwhelmed by the assault of images and energy – not to mention battling jet lag! Even though I’ve been to New York several times, it’s always familar and always new. In conversation with some Irish friends the other evening we began to explore the differences between Dublin and New York – after all, money is flowing in Ireland isn’t it? We’ve modernised haven’t we? We’re rapidly becoming multi-cultural aren’t we?
The difference between New York and Dublin boils down to the answer to this question “Is it possible?” the New York answer is always “yes” and the Dublin answer is invariably a variation on “no”. Actually the Dublin answer will rarely be a direct “no” (the Irish language doesn’t have a word for “no”). Even though there is a price tag attached to every NYC “yes” it’s still possible to get stuff/anything done here. I wonder what it’s like living in a society where (theoretically) anything is possible…it’s only 3000 miles from my home town but it’s a galaxy away in psychological terms.