Neighbor Guy

City People. Urban Living. Other Stuff.

Banh Mi Sandwich, Anyone?

Neighbor Guy used to have a litmus test for determining a great city. You had to be able to get a decent banh mi sandwich.

Not sure what a banh mi sandwich is? As the French might say: Ooh la la. You don’t know what you’ve been missing.

As it happens, a banh mi sandwich isn’t French. It’s Vietnamese. It’s also roast pork, fresh coriander, and all manner of pickled veggies stuffed into a crispy and, yes, decidedly French, baguette.

Not sure that a banh mi sandwich is your thing? That’s okay. Great cities let you pick your own thing.

Maybe your thing is dancing about with your transistor radio on a bustling street corner during the rush hour commute, or playing an accordion for tips on the subway, or riding through the city streets on a unicycle wearing nothing but a satisfied smile.

There are places where such unorthodox conduct would surely be frowned upon. The unicycle rider, in particular, might end up in the county jail.

Not so in a great city. Residents of great cities tend to regard examples of bizarre behavior with curious detachment, even admiration. They will praise the unicycle rider’s brazen individuality. They will marvel at his eccentricity. They will wonder where on earth he is going.

In this sense, great cities are the laissez-faire communities of our time. Vive la différence, as the French might say.

This isn’t to say a great city is always a tolerant place. On the contrary, great cities can be centers of considerable amounts of intolerance.

And yet, the sheer population density of a great city makes it difficult for intolerance of any kind to go unchecked. People cannot simply retreat to their corners with their opinions, judgments and prejudices.

Chances are, somebody already occupies that corner. And they may or may not share your point of view.

In a great city, people figure out ways to cope with one another’s peculiarities, to abide each other’s idiosyncrasies, to embrace the weird. It’s a matter of necessity. It’s a matter of survival.

Maybe you’re of the mind that that the crazies and their fantasy worlds aren’t the stuff of great cities at all; they’re one of the many reasons saner people flee city life for that bland wonderland known as suburbia.

Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but Neighbor Guy believes he could prevail upon you to view the next odd soul you meet in a more forgiving, even fanciful light.

Perhaps you’d care to discuss it over a banh mi sandwich?