Home Sweet Home

When I had my previous job, before children, I realized that a great number of college graduates wanted to live and work in New York City. Passionately and absolutely. For some of them, this was the deal breaker. And for the life of me, I couldn't understand why.

There is a lot of legend surrounding New York City. I guess there's a challenge to living there that some people simply can't walk away from. And a city of that size has a lot of things hard to find elsewhere. Theatre. Museums. Clubs. Restaurants. For some reason, people find this place incredibly exciting and attractive.

It's sad to say, but I think many people who live in cities look down on those of us who do not. Poor, poor rural folks! They obviously have no taste, no appreciation of finer things, no need for diversity, or they would have moved. Moved to the city, with billions of other people, to overpay for their real estate, their food, their everything. Sure, culture is all around in the city, but few people who live there can afford it. The money goes to pay the rent on their shoebox. To hear cars and noise and traffic everywhere and at all times, even at 4am in bed.

I think the city is just right for some people. But I don't think I'll ever be one of those people. For me, it's too dirty, too noisy, and too crowded. Going to the supermarket there is painful. Getting from place to place requires a chess board for planning. I like to get in my car and go where I need to go moving over 3 miles an hour, without driving through a sea of pedestrians, buy what I need without worrying about how I'm going to get it home while strolling through aisles large enough to pass someone without running over a foot. I like going outdoors without running into three million people who would step over me if I passed out in the street. I like not being woken up at night by trucks, sirens, or shouting men. I like... dirt dirt. Like from the earth.

Yes, I know there's a trade off. And for the most part I think people make the choice that's right for them. I saw Jamie and Anne-E's apartment, and it really is a great place. I know they are going to be happy there. For me, the city can be fun, but mostly I find it stressful, and it's not the kind of stress I feel a person should ever have to get used to. I don't want to ever have to get used to that sort of stuff. I know people come to visit me here and are immediately sure that Stephen King's monsters will pop out of the woods and eat them simply because they can't walk to a bookstore or a drugstore. This upsets them. I tell them to take a car. But I know it's the silence and the stillness that is really scary. The fact that, for a number of hours, they need to breathe and be with themselves and not have to go go go go run run run. I guess that slowing down can be as scary as speeding up.

I could use a few new places to eat here, though.