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The Things that People Do (Thoughts from New York City) (Pizzamas Day 7)

2015-11-17 · letter vlog · Hank, John · 2:21 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Economics (also: Personal life) · mode: Personal essay · tags: calendar ritual, recurring series, on location, guest or collab, self promotion

After a New York diary (The Financial Diet, a reunion with John, Chelsea galleries with Sarah), Hank says what amazes him most in New York is that it all works: so many people cooperate to keep the city fed and functioning, and he is not grateful enough for it.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — New York diary: hair, filming The Financial Diet, reunion with John, Chelsea galleries with Sarah, a Banana Republic shirt

  • ★ Hank woke up in New York City this week (week of 16 November 2015) and filmed an episode of The Financial Diet, which viewers can watch on its YouTube channel. — 00:00:05 · The Financial Diet, New York City
  • ★★ Hank met up with John for a reunion, and Sarah took them around a number of art galleries in Chelsea. — 00:00:13 · John Green, Sarah Urist Green, Reunion video
  • ★★ Hank, who doesn't think much about art, still appreciates it, but finds it hard to find good art or to feel he belongs in galleries with giant white walls and terrifying price lists. — 00:00:25 · Sarah Urist Green
  • ★ Hank bought a shirt at Banana Republic for that night's event and appreciated the young salesman's quiet assertiveness in picking his outfit. — 00:00:44

00:00:57 — New York works because many people cooperate; the logistics of always-available food; gratitude for what people do

  • ★★★ Hank says New York, more than anywhere, amazes him because it all somehow works: cab drivers, garbage collectors, shop staff and Christmas-tree decorators all come together to make the city function. — 00:00:57 · New York City
  • ★★★ Hank says in a lot of ways the most amazing thing he saw was the food at a Pret a Manger: food is complicated and perishable, yet always there, and the logistics amaze him. (hedged) — 00:01:20
  • ★★ Hank says that sometimes everything seems broken, but when things work we don't tend to notice. — 00:01:48

  • ★★★ Hank says he isn't grateful enough that there is always food at the corner store and that so many people work hard to keep New York eating and functioning: that is something people do. — 00:01:54 · New York City

    “That's not something that just happens. That's something that people do.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: gratitude · New York City · systems thinking

Also: Banana Republic · Chelsea, Manhattan · Pret a Manger · Reunion video · Rockefeller Center · Sarah Urist Green · The Financial Diet

Only in the description or credits: Pizzamas

Also centred on gratitude: We Could All Use a Little Change · My Greatest Tool Against Vaccine Misinformation · I am Grateful for My Worry · I Just Can't Do It Anymore · On Balance · My Deathday

Also centred on systems thinking: SYSTEMS!!!! · The Only Psychiatric Hospital in Sierra Leone · It's My Fault Too

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