Hudson River Smarts

I can't write a love letter about living upstate without giving fair props to my suburban roots. Sure, I spent some time in rural Italy, but I was born and spent most of my life in Peekskill, a smallish city north of the city. Let's be clear, we all know what city. The only city that rightfully owns the name, "The City." A high school friend of mine attended Hartwick, a small liberal arts college in the same town as my state college. A healthy portion of its students are from New England states. Every now and then, my 'Wick buddy and I crossed campuses and socialized. One fourth of July weekend, I joined her and some of her friends in Vermont. These friends spent a lot of time talking about The City: who's moving to It, who's working in It, and when the next trip to It would be. I became confused because I wasn't familiar with any of the neighborhoods or streets they referenced. When someone at last said something about the Mass Turnpike, it finally occurred to me that they were talking about Boston. How quaint. They call Boston "The City." I was outnumbered so I kept the hilarity of it to myself.

If you've never lived in New York, you might not understand this superficial and slightly off- putting attitude. I guess it would be like a Southerner defending country music. There's no sense in the argument, it just is what it is. I don't know for sure if people in oh...let's say...Georgia are talking about Atlanta when they say The City. They probably are, and considering their distance from New York, I suppose that's acceptable. Plus CNN hq is there, so that makes it even marginally cool. I'm sure the suburbs folks around the nation's capital mean D.C. when they refer to The City, and Californians - well who knows what Californians are ever talking about anyway. Anywhere in the Northeast, however, and The City means only one place. And it. is. not. Boston. Massachussettians (?) can pretend all they want in their own state, but they know the truth. Boston is a fine, fine city, don't get me wrong - it's just not the Boss of the Northeast or of..well, again let's be clear: of the Universe.

Tim spent most of his life around this area. I like to say I married a townie. Every now and then, in conversation, we discover a stark difference in our upbringing. It's usually trivial, like for example, how he used to do 'barn chores' while I worked in a retail strip mall. He had a paper route, while I made the headlines. OK, not so much on the headlines. But you get the idea.

My last entry listed a few things I learned as I've assimilated to my upstsate life. I can't list all the things I knew in my former life, so instead, I'll list a few notes we've compared and some things Tim has learned from marrying a Westchester suburbanite:

People:

• We (downstaters) look younger for longer. It's probably the treated drinking water. Or Indian Point 2.
• I never saw a rundown trailer park growing up.
  
• Tim never saw an urban housing project growing up.
• He's realized the dark side. (starts with R and ends with epublican).
• I've realized that no one does pizza right around here.
  
• We're not all rich. The obscenely rich just live among us. Their bling simply makes us look blingier.
• An eight cart long check out line at the grocery store is a lucky find downstate.
• Now, however, I'm spoiled, and if I have to wait behind 2 carts, I'm fit to be tied.
• I maintain that unfriendly and silent cashiers make for more efficient shopping.
  

School:

• Our schools are big enough that even if you're a loser, there's plenty of other losers to hang out with, so that actually will end up making you cool in your own circle. Win-win.
  
• No one in my graduating class lived on a farm.
• No one in Tim's graduating class was a crack ho.
  
• Our district did not bus regular students because nearly every school was within reasonable walking distance.
• Comparatively speaking, much fewer rural kids seem to be within reasonable or safe walking distance of anything. Except hay.
  
• Our Spanish, Art, and History teachers were actually 3 (or more) seperate people.

Location:

• The Hudson River is a major reference point down there.
• A creek is major reference point up here.
• People don't fear snow around here, and it gets so cold, the snow actually squeaks.
• It snows a lot downstate too, but the first 2 snowflakes somehow signal mass chaos to commence.
  
• There are indeed many real farms in Westchester and Long Island. The only difference is that our chickens wouldn't be caught dead in last season's feathers.