Two days after I graduated high school, I left my hometown in Alexandria, Virginia and moved to Cape May, New Jersey. Most of my family lives here, so I already had had many encounters with the state, but nothing is quite like living on the Jersey Shore. After being a Washington-area native for 16 years, I think of myself as a fairly cultured and open-minded person. To prepare myself before the move, I watched a couple episodes of "Jersey Shore" and "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" thinking, “No, this isn’t real. This is so stereotypical.” Although those shows are quite absurd, since I moved here I have noticed that New Jerseyans have a different way of approaching life from many other Americans.
If I had to describe the typical college-age New Jersey male, and female, it would go something like this. The male wears a muscle tee, khakis and Nikes. He doesn’t think a backwards cap looks stupid and a gold cross necklace is optional. Statistics show there is actually a direct correlation between the wearing of these chains and how many Instagram photos with motivational bible quotes the person posts.
The typical female wears leggings, a lacey crop-top paired with a colorful bandeau and gladiator sandals or Uggs depending on the season. Her balayaged hair and nose piercing complete the look.
If there’s one thing New Jerseyans really care about, it’s their appearance. During my high school years in Washington a classmate named Emily was the only person I knew who ever got a fake tan. It was for our graduation day and she marched into the auditorium looking like a carrot. After my first summer in Cape May I realized there are many Emilys here. I have never heard of monthly subscriptions to tanning salons, but girls here flock to them, desperate for extremely unnatural looking skin.
Perhaps even more important to young women here than their tan is their nails. New Jersey girls love their nails. Although many seem to have trouble paying for textbooks or gas money, $40 for a set of acrylics is often laid out every week or two. After my own experience with these acrylic claws, I believe typing and being able to take out contact lenses with them are skills only New Jersey-raised females develop.
Not only did the excessive amount of cheetah print and crystalized Michael Kors watches catch me off guard, but there are also many cultural things that New Jerseyans are very passionate about. I have listened to many heated political debates about topics like gay marriage and abortion. However, I have never seen two people so viciously attack one another while on the debate of pork roll versus Taylor Ham. I still can’t understand the amount of anger engendered by this constant dispute, which is ultimately about the same food product. But I do agree that it is delicious.
Now it may sound like I am hating on New Jersey, but there are many great things about it too. Not only are the disco fries, bagels and not having to pump my own gas phenomenal aspects of the state, but it also is the home of some of the most prideful and spirited people. I find it refreshing that the people here are much more straightforward and open to telling others how they feel. Not only do they have great pride in living in the same state with two of the most dangerous cities in the country (Camden and Newark), but they have also banded together after many troubles, like 9/11, and Hurricane Sandy.
New Jerseyans get a lot of criticism from outsiders and are the target of a lot of jokes, but they are truthfully very welcoming and friendly people. I would highly recommend moving here to any of my friends, but if you can’t deal with the gaudy boardwalks and “Don’t mess with me” attitudes, fuhgeddaboudit.
