What I miss most about NYC...

I can tell you that it is definitely not the produce prices.

I miss the no smoking in bars rule. Although I only once went to a bar in NYC to watch an Eagles game...the rest I watched at home or online.

Twice this calendar year I have been to American sports bars in foreign countries to watch the Eagles beat the Giants. In January, I was in Berlin, Germany and watched McNabb and the Eagles destroy the Giants and tonight I was in Jerusalem, Israel watching the first half of the Eagles demolishing the Giants. (I want to take a moment and thank Giants fan JA for being a gracious loser, for being at both bars with me and for being my good luck troll for both games.) In Germany, we scouted the bars first. The bar that we found was far away and filled with so much smoke that there was a haze in front of the TV screen and it made my eyes tear. We ended up going somewhere else to watch the game which did not allow smoking inside....only Eagles smoking the Giants.

Tonight in Jerusalem, there was no scouting first and I do not think that it would have mattered. Everyone smokes- especially 18 year old yeshiva boys from New York and Philadelphia. Tonight the bar was full of them! They were loud, obnoxious and spent half of the first quarter yelling obscenities at each other. I felt like yelling at them to stop because it was not good middos but I doubt that anything would have changed. I walked home in the rain after and when I got home, made my lunch, packed my bag, and sat down to check e-mail. My eyes started tearing and my nose scrunched. I stank! of cigarette smoke! YUCK! So now I am sitting here, finishing this blog post having taken a break to shower and put all of my smoky clothes in a pile to wash in the morning. I definitely am not ok with other people trying to kill me with their bad habits. Not cool!

Go Eagles (and I guess Phillies...)