How to look like a tourist

When I was growing up outside of NYC, I learned early what tourists looked like, especially in the big city. They usually had a camera strapped around their neck and were looking up at the skyscrapers with their mouths gaping open. If I had friends who were visiting, I always told them to not get out a big subway map and look at it on a street corner and reminded them to "play it cool" so that they didn't stick out like a sore thumb. I took pride in being a "city girl" and loved to "help" others learn how to blend in among the crowds.

Evidently, I had a momentary lapse in judgment or have lived away from the metropolitan New York area for way too long, because on my first day back this past weekend, here's what I looked like!

I am almost embarrassed about posting this picture, here and on Facebook! And I definitely embarrassed my son by posing and asking him to take it! I should have known better than to pose with someone on the street in Times Square. It was obviously a whim, but as soon as I got over to her (him?) and the draping of the flag (improper, I must add) and the other props were added, I knew it was a mistake and that there was going to be money involved. I didn't have any small bills, so I had to plead innocence and thankfully walked away without anything bad happening or being chased down the street. 

So, as a lesson to all tourists to NYC:  Maintain your steel-faced resolved when walking through Times Square and do not give in to a whim when you see the people dressed like the Statue of Liberty or Spider Man or any number of other Disney characters on the street! Just keep walking!