DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED ON FEBRUARY 10, 2020.
The following article was written when I was fifteen years old. Frustrated with my own life and my parents' financial struggles, I compared myself to the seemingly perfect people around me.
It was not wise of me to pin the blame on Peachtree City, especially since the things said could occur in any wealthy city. The main focus of this article was not about the city itself but rather about my fifteen-year-old self finding a place here. As a result, the title is misleading, and I am aware of it.
However, I am not going to discredit what I felt back then, for I still believe that some things hold true. I simply did not express how I truly felt back then. To clarify, the problem does not reside in the fact that the people are wealthy. The problems reside in the fact that some of the wealthy are not effectively showing and allowing their children to understand and appreciate the value of hard work.
I now know not to generalize everyone into one category, for I know that there is more than just the preconceptions. I am grateful to have been able to here for the past decade, and I am grateful for the city and what it has provided me with.
Please read the following with an open mind. If not, I completely understand. Feel free to keep mocking a fifteen-year-old in your Facebook groups.
Imagine living in your ideal life — you, a parent, have all the money, luxuries and the time disposable in your own hands. You have a loving community full of friends and family who are in the same position as you. There's not much to worry about in the world. Your only goal is to utilize all your resources and raise your family in the most loving, nurturing way as possible. You want your children to grow up successful with all these opportunities you provided for them. You hope that they, like you, will find someone to fall in love with and raise a family of their own. You wish for nothing but the best for those you care about.
Now imagine taking part of the ultimate high school experience — you, an angsty teen, go to a party, get drunk or high. You temporarily seek relief from rigidity of society and its expectations, and you stop worrying about your responsibilities for a day. You go to these escapist activities hoping to find something that will fulfill your needs. Despite living in what your parents and outsiders consider "the perfect life," you want out of it. You were provided the world, but you feel nothing.
Clichés exist, and I live in one of them.
Peachtree City, where I've lived for over a decade, is known as "The Bubble." It has a reputation for having a close-knit community, low crime rates and the best public education. The houses here are grand, and all properties are taken care of very nicely. Not to mention, it has miles of golf cart paths all around town, and you are free to drive your golf cart on them to get place to place. The city has multiple restaurants, little parks and shopping centers, so you'll run out of nothing to do.
As great as “The Bubble" sounds, it's a flawed community.
Peachtree City, my friends, would be a typical setting in a movie, show or book. You have your rich, white parents and their spoiled children. You have the smuggled drugs, and your drunk teenagers driving on golf cart paths. There's little diversity, and those who are different are immediately looked down upon, despite the community's claims of accepting everyone in the community.
And sometimes, this can be a huge issue.
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Too many times, I overhear people complain about how their parents won't let them buy an expensive shirt or how their parents cut off their debit cards. There are too many times I've overheard people complain about how they have to pay for their own items or how they actually have to find a job on their own instead of relying on just their parents.
You would think that the adults would do something about all this. And yet, they are oblivious to the damage that they're doing just by giving their what they believe is the best. Then again, what do you give to somebody who already has everything? Their children have grown up in a place and manner that doesn't they don't have to work for anything. What others may think as extravagant is their norm.
But are people truly happy here? After all, these people have the wealth, which is more than what most people have.
Humans are materialistic, always comparing the name brands or how expensive their latest bags were. However, it gets tiring to see money being wasted on items that only provide temporary relief. And once the initial excitement is over, it'll leave you unsatisfied. The lavish spending begin, and there's no stop to it. But in the end, money is not the issue.
Living in "The Bubble" is exactly what it sounds like. The community is in their own bubble, closed off from the entire outside world. Everyone in it feels entrapped. Nothing ever happens; nothing is ever unusual. And when something does occur, the poor person caught in the incident will be the talk of the town for who knows how long.
And people want nothing but out.
In a town where there appear to be no problems, people are left idling because they don't know what to do.
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How do you know what you want to change or stand up for when there's nothing? What do you do when your world is provided for you? Do you really feel a sense of accomplishment or self-worth?
Some turn towards their religious faith, some turn towards drugs. Others, myself included, are left behind wondering what our purpose in life is. There are problems within “The Bubble" that are invisible to eyes. But, if you inspect it more carefully, you'll see that things are not as perfect as it seems.
“The Bubble" could be a form of utopia — you have all you've ever wanted in a town like this, but at the end of the day, you feel like there's no meaning in life. You have nothing to work for. Everything is the same, and there seems to be no escape. In a small town where everything's scrutinized, you feel trapped. Everyone appears happy, but deep down, they're searching for something more, something greater.
Who knows? As perfect as it may sound to outsiders, the utopia setting of Peachtree City makes it a modern-day dystopia.
