While I made my way around the sights I picked up the following information. The population of New York City is over 9 million people. This makes it the most densely populated city in the USA. Each day this is boosted by tourism and commuters to 17 million plus all squashed into 305 square miles.

As I wondered around the city I got approached on every street corner by people looking to sell me stuff. Stuff consists of bus tours, souvenirs and restaurants to eat in. Many people, a lot of them immigrants, are desperately making a living out of the tourist. Meanwhile downtown in Wall Street the bankers sit behind blacked out glass, in air conditioned comfort and take high salaries and a lot of stress with it.

The contrast between the rich and poor could not be better illustrated than by taking a bus trip up town. This took us through the affluence of Manhattan and into the effluent of Harlem. The contrast could not have been greater. The quality of the buildings changed with the quality of the shops and the produce they sold. The racial mix altered radically and truly there was two cultures living separately, next to each other, in the same city.

I thought I knew what busy traffic was until I experienced New York. The yellow cabs have a tense relationship with the pedestrian. Tempted to run them down for not using their services but conscious that it’s not good for business. If you removed the horn from any car driver in NY they would feel lost, disempowered, neutered. The angry sound of car horns mixes with the babble of street vendors, tourists and, of course, the sirens. The sirens of the police cars and the ambulances act as a constant reminder that there is always someone else worse off than you.

This is a busy, pressurised environment 24 hours a day.

So what, I thought, are the parallels with us in the UK? Well, we have a finite amount of land available and an increasing population. We have increased immigration and a recession. We have an increasingly car based culture with the metal box we travel around in acting as an extension of ourselves. Of course, we have known for years that what develops in the USA does not take long to develop here.

A friend asked me if I should move to NY because they clearly have a need for my services. My answer was simply that I preferred to help people in my own city. Every week I see website activity increase. As we weather these difficult times I am here to help those that need it.

If you, or someone you know, needs help with managing anger why not join us for An Introduction to Anger Evening at Derby University Multi Faith Centre on the 29^th June.  It starts at 6.30 pm and ends at 8.30 pm. Join me for tea of coffee from  6.15 pm onwards. See www.beatingangerderby.co.uk for details.

Photo by Antoine Henrich's 
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1046