The background drone of the city noise blurs itself after a while, but if you pay attention, every day there are sirens wailing pass your window and secondhand smoke wafting your way as you walk to class.  The dirt and grime of the streets and glaring heat reflecting off the windows of the ten-story buildings will bore pessimistic thoughts into your brain if you are not careful.  There are the chirpy, always grinning people that are the exceptions to the rule, although even their naturally effervescent personalities will eventually erode in the concrete jungle as people mindlessly jog around and through others to attain their goals.

The incessant humdrum of city life seems appealing to naive individuals who only look forward to the nightlife of booze, gambling, and dance-a-thons.  What you don't see are trees - Mother Nature's handiwork.  You become spoiled when you grow up in the suburbs.  When you move to the city, you realize how important it is to be able to see the misty peaks of the Smokies and the natural beauty found in wildlife growing in empty fields as you drive farther away from the city.  These small aesthetic features of daily life become ingrained in your mind as you are raised in this environment, but when you make the first move out of your natural habitat, you will realize that it is mostly a world of angles and metalwork.  The artificiality and processed vibes you receive from the city numb you to the cruelty that it hides.  You eventually will habituate yourself to the edifice of the city, and you will find the niches in the city where greenery thrives (parks, medians on the interstate on the way to work, etc) which will sustain your needs until your next vacation day. 

 After a few bad days pile onto another bad week, you begin to lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel.

This world of steel and iron, combined with the ruthless nature that people develop in order to survive, will crush a person.  Competition is the building block at work; no matter what job you get, from dead-end to life-changing, the ambitious and Darwinistic few will succeed over others.  City life is like a pressure cooker that builds you up to your steaming point.  The stock that fills your pressure cooker varies from work demands to the general lethargic feelings of loneliness that living in an overcrowded hot spot can create. 

City life is both enchanting and intoxicating.  It can be likened to a bittersweet tonic that can be overpowering and thrilling.  It offers opportunities, eclectic peoples, and danger.  In the city, you live in a bubble, albeit an overcrowded one.  The city magnifies crime, sorrow, and destruction. The weight of the world grows heavier on your shoulders as you get to see more of the world when you live in the city.  You get to see more of the raw, unedited version that can leave one's senses subdued.  I find that city life has its charms, but leaves a person jaded.  After a few bad days pile onto another bad week, you begin to lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Does city life equal pessimism?  The answer depends on the individual. For me, I find that it warps my view of the world and usually leaves me leaning towards the darker side.