Something has been lost
I took an extended break from blogging. I was a bit preoccupied about my employment situation and was out of town a bit, so I put the blog on the back burner. Don't worry, I haven't stopped eating (my waistbands, in case you wonder, were not worried). Before I get back to my hedonistic recounting of my orgiastic eating adventures, I must speak about a serious topic.
Most of us live in a city. Lots of studies and numbers have been produced showing the ever growing percentage of people living in cities. I know why, there are jobs and money there. The farmers are more and more productive, meaning we need fewer and fewer of them. Because of cities I can buy a car and pit multiple local dealerships against each other. I can have a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. I can go shopping at 2 am. I can eat at a Mexican restaurant for breakfast, a soul food restaurant for lunch, and have Chinese food for dinner. I have 3G (and 4G) wireless coverage at my house and at my work. It's neat.
It does not, however, come without a price. I was mostly raised in a small town. I am familiar with the culture. In many ways, it is similar to the culture of the town in To Kill a Mockingbird. I won't review the negative aspects of small town life, I acknowledge there are plenty. I will, however, recount some of the advantages.
When I was in elementary school, I was a nerd (same as in middle school, high school, college, law school and now). The interesting thing was, though, I didn't know it. I felt like I was in with the popular kids. No one really teased me. I have assumed it was because everyone had known me since kindergarten. I was different, but accepted. I was allowed to occupy a role in the society of my schoolmates - guy that wanted to be funny (but wasn't), really cared about getting good grades and played clarinet. I didn't learn I was a nerd until we moved to Phoenix and went to middle school. They didn't know me, and I wasn't accepted.
The point is not that some kids were nice to me in the small town and some kids weren't in the big city. The point is, that in a small town, to a large extent, everyone is known. Not just by name, but they have a place. Even people who are not perfect (i.e. everyone), are allowed a place. There may be judgment, there may be labeling, but everyone has a spot, and they are allowed to occupy it.
In a city, not everyone is known. Because of this, we get to select our neighbors, in a sense. We choose who we spend time with and who we put up with. We get to build a pretend world filled mostly with people of our own choosing. If those people disappoint us, or change to no longer fit our the specifications of our own "world", we can eject them. There are always more "fish in the sea." It's a great opportunity to be selfish and to not grow or be challenged.
Now I see this post has grown too long. I will finish these thoughts in a day or two.
Most of us live in a city. Lots of studies and numbers have been produced showing the ever growing percentage of people living in cities. I know why, there are jobs and money there. The farmers are more and more productive, meaning we need fewer and fewer of them. Because of cities I can buy a car and pit multiple local dealerships against each other. I can have a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. I can go shopping at 2 am. I can eat at a Mexican restaurant for breakfast, a soul food restaurant for lunch, and have Chinese food for dinner. I have 3G (and 4G) wireless coverage at my house and at my work. It's neat.
It does not, however, come without a price. I was mostly raised in a small town. I am familiar with the culture. In many ways, it is similar to the culture of the town in To Kill a Mockingbird. I won't review the negative aspects of small town life, I acknowledge there are plenty. I will, however, recount some of the advantages.
When I was in elementary school, I was a nerd (same as in middle school, high school, college, law school and now). The interesting thing was, though, I didn't know it. I felt like I was in with the popular kids. No one really teased me. I have assumed it was because everyone had known me since kindergarten. I was different, but accepted. I was allowed to occupy a role in the society of my schoolmates - guy that wanted to be funny (but wasn't), really cared about getting good grades and played clarinet. I didn't learn I was a nerd until we moved to Phoenix and went to middle school. They didn't know me, and I wasn't accepted.
The point is not that some kids were nice to me in the small town and some kids weren't in the big city. The point is, that in a small town, to a large extent, everyone is known. Not just by name, but they have a place. Even people who are not perfect (i.e. everyone), are allowed a place. There may be judgment, there may be labeling, but everyone has a spot, and they are allowed to occupy it.
In a city, not everyone is known. Because of this, we get to select our neighbors, in a sense. We choose who we spend time with and who we put up with. We get to build a pretend world filled mostly with people of our own choosing. If those people disappoint us, or change to no longer fit our the specifications of our own "world", we can eject them. There are always more "fish in the sea." It's a great opportunity to be selfish and to not grow or be challenged.
Now I see this post has grown too long. I will finish these thoughts in a day or two.
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