Long ago, when I worked for a national women’s magazine, I assigned a piece on medicine cabinets. No, not one of those “What Every Medicine Cabinet Should Have” service pieces that you’ve probably read in a magazine or two but a juicy—and, I hoped, funny—human-nature piece. I asked a reporter to write about people’s tendencies to peek into other people’s medicine cabinets—you know, just a quick look to see what’s on the shelves. Oh, come on—don’t pretend that you never have (and if you really haven’t, admit, at least, that you’ve been sorely tempted).
Why do we do it? For the same reason we read a newspaper, search the web, travel to distant places: curiosity. We’re curious beings. We want to know about others—’cause, really, it tells us about ourselves (gee, I must be in better shape than Margaret; I don’t take blood-pressure medication yet).
Which brings me to our cover story. Aren’t you curious about the amenities, the services, the appeal of other towns? We thought so (see “12 Best Places to Live,” page 52). Don’t you want to know how your town stacks up against all the other towns in Westchester? We thought that too (turn to page 60 for “Our Towns—A Numerical Snapshot”). And don’t you want to see what a unit looks like at the Ritz and the Trump Tower among other condos/co-op buildings in the county? See page 70. And odds are you aren’t looking for a home right now, but aren’t you curious what’s out there? No problem; see “20 Great Real Estate Deals,” page 67.
I still recall when my husband and I were looking for a new place to live. We would spend most every Sunday examining different places. It was thrilling. When we finally found our new home, we were happy we got a nice place but also somewhat sad: we knew we’d miss those Sundays looking at other people’s places.
Esther Davidowitz
Editor-in-Chief
