I am going to be writing a series of articles on the 10 things that I hate. Without further ado, here is number 10: people from New Jersey who say, “Oh no, I am not from the bad part of Jersey.”
I am from Boston (a small town outside the city but Fenway is 10 minutes from my town). I go to college in Springfield, Massachusetts so it’s safe to say that I know nothing about the Garden State, New Jersey. During my time at college, I have met people who hail from this state and my first instinct is to ask them, "Are you from the Jersey shore area?" that was shown on the TV show of the same name. They always respond with, "No, I’m not from the bad part, the part I am from is beautiful." OK fine. Then they proceed to tell me that the "bad part" of New Jersey is "like on the boardwalk where they filmed the show."
This is where I start getting pissed. How come everyone I meet from Jersey pretends like this bad part is non-existent? They all act like it was just one little spot from a TV show that became magnified because of the success of said show. This is nonsense. You want to know why? New Jersey had this reputation before the show became popular. This is a fact so stop acting like the "bad part" of Jersey does not exist because it does. Look, I am not trying to rip on Jersey but can we all stop with the lying for a second here, people? All I want to know is where the bad part is so I can never go there, ever. I am sure there are nice parts of the state just like there are nice parts of getting kicked in the onion sack but can someone just have the courage to say "here it is, here’s the bad part." That’s all I want.
If anyone out there from Jersey has the courage to own up to where this "bad part" is, please for the love of God, circle it on a map and send it to me. Stop telling me the bad part is on one boardwalk, stop pretending like it doesn’t exist and have some pride. Own where you are from including the trashy, scary part that everyone seems to know about. I mean, it’s really not that bad, Jersey. You could be Florida which is just one big interstate highway and old people. I am begging all of you who reside in the Garden State to stop the act and just come clean. It is time for all of you to accept the bad part of your state. Everyone who lives there has created this monster and it’s time to acknowledge it, Jersey. So now the ball is in your court, it’s time for you to make a move.
