Megalopolers

God save the Megalopolers!

Only residents (from birth or not) of megacities laugh at jokes about stressed people, feel safe among crowds, and are afraid of the peace and tranquillity of the countryside. They also do not know specifically how to enjoy nature nor to spell the name of birds and plants, but still, they will be able to tell you for sure where you can get the best discounts for that Gucci purse, or pass you the tip on that tiny and amazing restaurant that has just opened.

We, megalopolers, have no fear of exploring the complexity of the world and of getting on a bus without knowing to where it is heading. We do not trust anybody and that keeps us standing. We are obliged to deal with daily risks that a village resident does not even know exist. We are creative too, trying to make the best out of every situation, even if it is from inside a car by listening to an audio book, or meditating while stuck in a traffic jam that seems to go on and on forever.

We do right things and we do bad things; we stand and we fall, and nobody seems to remember these great and small achievements in this jungle of faces without names.

Today we are at the top, and in the worst-case scenario, tomorrow we are down, but for sure we on our way up again.

We do not feel bad or sad just because we are having a cup of coffee, lunch, dinner or going to the movies for instance at (busy) 09.00 am or 12.00 am sessions all by ourselves, because certainly we are neither the first, the last and probably not the only ones to do so.

We are not friends with our neighbours and we neither know the baker’s name nor recognise his face on a crowded street. We understand the function of anonymity, but at the same time as we praise it, we also regret its supremacy occasionally.

I know that people living in small towns seem to be happy, but with all due respect residents of small and insignificant towns, the truth is that nobody knows better than a megalopoler how to feel truly alive, given our ability to recognise through our fashion the soul, the shadows and the rays of light of a great city.

We have an amazing choice of places to go or not to go, we can make daily discoveries, but we might need three hours to get back home from work, besides being another number amongst millions.

Megalopolers know that they do not belong only to a city, but to something much more complex than that. As a matter of fact, it is the world that belongs to a megalopoler.

Luciana B. Veit

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