[firebrand]

I am afraid you are the one who is ridiculous. Read what I said. NYC draws the best and the brightest, and the most achievement-oriented. They pour into this place like the screaming mobs in a Japanese monster movie and proceed to compete ferociously for everything--from places in line to the most desirable jobs. You cannot even talk about anything within the earshot of strangers without their trying to one-up you, loudly, in their conversation. It is, in fact, what many non-New Yorkers hate about New York. You should try living here for a few decades, as I have. And if you don't believe me, read E. B. White. The average high school or city college graduate from our schools doesn't have a prayer against these wolves.

[tcostell]

I lived in Manhattan for 16 years and moved out 3 years ago. There is nowhere in the world that offers more opportunity to the bright and hard working, and less to the dimitted and slow. It doesn't matter where you go to high school.