City Reflections: "Wordly" or Not?

Since moving to New York I have had many people ask me if I think I’ll move back to the South. The answer that I usually give is, “Yes, but not for a while”. Which is then usually followed up by the person saying (typically the people asking me this question are older than me), “You think that you will, but you’ll probably end up staying here forever.” This proclamation is then followed up with some sort of conversation relating to how “worldy” I will become through my living here and how I will end up completely different than my friends who decided to “stay behind” to live and work in my hometown or towns nearby.

I had such a conversation with someone just the other day and I have literally become so sick of hearing that “opinion” that I finally just put it all out there for her to hear. Hey! Guess what?! I’ve now lived in three different states and at one point even abroad! I’ve held 7 different job positions since I was 15 years old. I’ve traveled all over the place with my family (starting at a young age) and on my own – within the country and on European adventures! I'm not a complete dud who has just sat at home watching TV or "working on the farm" as so many people think about "Southerners".

No, I’m not trying to claim that I am the ultimate in “worldy” human beings. There is a lot that I haven’t experienced in my lifetime, but I somehow start to get slightly annoyed by the people here in New York who like to gloat about how AMAZING the city life is and how it’s THE ONLY WAY to really LIVE. And please, don’t take that the wrong way if you are a New Yorker who feels that way – believe me, I love New York; It’s a great city with many amazing and fun things to do. I just have to differ in the opinion of those who believe New Yorkers are the end-all-be-all of human beings. Culture, life experiences and intelligent people DO live outside of this maze of concrete.

At one point during my internship here in the city, I remember paging through a gossip magazine on the table in front of me during lunch and having one of my supervisors turn around only to say something to the effect of, “Oh jeeze. I’m not surprised you would want to read that gossip magazine. Girls from your area probably fund that entire publication!” I remember just looking at her and then sort of laughing it off, but if someone said that to me now, (not to be completely defensive) I would probably say something about it. I mean really!? That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard and slightly insulting.

Another more recent example - I was on my way to grab a little lunch when a group of about three girls and two guys stepped in the elevator. The entire time they gabbed about the specific brand that it was quite obvious they work for. I have no problem with having pride in the organization and brand of which one is employed, heck, I absolutely LOVE what my company produces and would shout it from the rooftops, but this group’s conversation started to go in a slightly different direction. While talking about one of their new product lines, I overheard one of the girls (probably around my age) say something to the effect of, “No one in that _WON’T NAME THE STATE HERE_ would ever wear that stuff. Their favorite stores are probably Wal-Mart and Goodwill” Ahem – WHAT?! First of all, not true of the people in unnamed state and second of all how snobbish can you be?!

With those two examples in mind, it just made me think about my situation and my view of the world (yep, my view of the world - all from a few comments from people here and there!) The other night I was riding in a taxi on the way home from a little meet-up with some friends. I love riding around in taxis in the city (I don’t do it all that often) because I can really look at my surroundings and pass by so many interesting things all in a single car ride. As I looked around (and after a conversation with the husband) I realized that New York City is not the rule – it is the exception. No place (except for few that come close) is like it here. The majority of the country doesn’t ride a subway to work every morning or buy their food from a “food truck”. The majority of the country doesn’t have the amount of shopping choices that are available here or even the museums available for locals. The majority of the country doesn’t pay oodles and oodles of money in rent every month nor do they “just happen” to walk by celebrities on the street.

Sure, New York is AMAZING and it is a totally magical and interesting place to live. I’ll even go so far as to say that many times I feel lucky to be able to live here based on the resources, jobs, and things I can experience, but in NO WAY do I feel as though I am living some elite lifestyle just by being here. I’m not going to put myself on some pedestal of “well I live the city life and YOU’RE just still living in the ‘country’.” I don’t assume that I am having better life experiences than someone who decided to stay in my hometown. Sure, I’m thankful for the opportunity, but again, it doesn’t make me “better” than anyone else.

I’ll end on this note since this post is somewhat of a mish-mash, unorganized category of thoughts. The same person who told me that I’ll end up being more “worldly” than my “friends who stayed behind” also mentioned that someday when my husband and I have kids we will be bringing them to the MET on the weekends while my “friends who stayed behind” will only be bringing their kids to the park. All I have to say is…what “child” WANTS to go to the MET? All I know is that I was always pretty fond of the swings...