In response to last week's post about it being hard in some ways to live in New York City, I got an e-mail from a reader with some really insightful comments that have stuck with me. I've been turning this around in my head a bit over the last week:

I recently had a discussion with [a friend] about the differences between us. One that I pointed out was that she was a "thing person" while I was a "people person." ... The important thing for her is what she is doing--eating in a particular Italian restaurant, watching a particular play, traveling to a particular country. I, on the other hand, care much more about who I am with than what I am doing. I just want to hang out with my friends, and usually arrange get togethers before we have decided what, if anything, we are going to do. I too wish real life were more like college in that I could just stop by someone's room for an hour or so to talk, with no need for an excuse such as dinner or a movie. Just thought I'd share.

People-people vs. Thing-people. That's interesting. I'd never really thought about it in those terms, but it sort of makes sense. It's why some people can go on a trip somewhere alone, I guess, without feeling... well... alone. Or why a lucrative salary / nice restaurants / fancy car / etc can make up for other stuff in life better for some people than for others. The problem is that, to me, there's no contest between people and things, and I can't rationally believe that other people, deep down, can be "thing people" without that also meaning they're somehow deficient human beings. But maybe that's my issue, not theirs. Just thought it was an interesting way to look at the world, and it stuck in my head, so I wanted to share.