I
think I'm going to editorialize for a little bit about something that bugs
me occasionally. It's when people bash the community in which they
live (in my experience, I'm speaking of Ottumwa). All the time I
hear people say things like "The drivers here are the worst drivers anywhere,"
"The people in this town are the dumbest people in the world," and "This
town is the most boring town in the world." Now, if those truly are
your opinions, then fine... express them. But what do you have to
compare your community to? Unless you recently moved from
somewhere else, you really can't compare your community to another place.
Visiting somewhere and living somewhere are two completely different things.
It's natural that we may prefer places other than our home, because we
may have fun when we go there. But, it's the fact that we're not
there often that makes it fun. For example, I used to LOVE Iowa City...
I looked forward to getting to there. Coral Ridge Mall was pretty
cool. Downtown Iowa City was totally awesome! But, now that
I go to school here, my opinion has changed. I'm pretty indifferent
about going here. Coral Ridge Mall is okay. Downtown Iowa City
is neat, but it's nothing incredible. Being here has lost its magic
and made me appreciate Ottumwa even more.
Now,
let me take the aforementioned quotes one-by-one. "The drivers here
are the worst drivers anywhere." When I hear that statement, I can't
help but think, "How do you know that?" It's only natural that one
would think the drivers in his/her community are the "worst" drivers because
they're the only ones to which they're really exposed! You likely
drive in your home community nearly everyday, interacting with many of
its bad drivers. Thus, since most of your bad driving experiences
occur at home, you're likely to formulate the above opinion. However,
I've got news for you: there are bad drivers everywhere! Try
driving through any big city. Iowa City has much worse drivers than
Ottumwa (though a lot of it stems from the fact that there are MANY more
drivers in Iowa City)... compared to Iowa City, Ottumwa was good drivers!
And that's saying something!
"The
people in this town are the dumbest people in the world." Again,
one is likely to form this opinion because he/she is exposed to the people
of his/her community on a daily basis. Since most of your interactions
with people occur in your home community, it's only natural to think that
the people there are stupid. However... news flash! There are
stupid people EVERYWHERE!!!! Now, you might think that going to a
college community would surround you with intellectual, non-stupid people...
but that is actually not at all true. I've met some of the dumbest
people I've ever met in Iowa City... I can't believe some of them made
it into college in the first place! I don't think I've ever been
to a place without dumb people... they run rampant on this planet, and
there's no escaping them.
"This
town is the most boring town in the world." Again, since one spends
most of his/her time in the home community, this opinion is likely to be
uttered. Since most of your time is spent in the home community,
most of the "bored" time is spent there, as well. Trips out of town
are usually infrequent and fun, making other towns seem more fun.
However, any community can have its boring times. It's the people
you're with that make a place fun. Ottumwa by itself is not fun.
Iowa City by itself is not fun. It's the people you're with that
make a place fun. So, if you want to think your home is boring, go
ahead and think that... and it will be boring. Or you can make it
fun... it only takes a little creativity and some great friends.
Now,
I've rambled on for quite a while! In conclusion, I'd just like to
say to take a little time to think about what you're saying before the
next time you slam your community. Think about the positives, and
remember that it could ALWAYS be worse. Someday when you move away,
you just might regret what you said many years ago.
