This morning, after I got out of the subway and was headed to my office, I was offered an environmentally-friendly tote bag from a young girl. Instead of saying, "thanks!" and walking away, I paused for a moment and looked at the girl quizzically, and then looked down at the bag she was offering, and then back at the girl. Sensing my confusion, she explained that "it's just a bag." So I smiled, took the bag, muttered "thank you" and walked away. And indeed it was just a bag. In fact, it was a free bag from Lucky magazine, advertising its "Ultimate Shopping Party."

I could always use an extra tote bag to help save the word, so why was I so skeptical of accepting this small gift from this seemingly non-threatening young girl? I'll tell you why. It's because we, as New Yorkers, are skeptical of "free" gifts. We are so used to trying to dodge those people throwing fliers and coupons at us every day and being offer "free" samples that really aren't free, that we don't know how to react when we are offered something that is useful, and actually free.

Or, maybe it's not all New Yorkers who act this way and maybe it's just me being sleepy and paranoid on a Monday morning.