Hey, Jersey! Show A Little Obnoxious Pride, Would Ya?

As an Ohioan, I can relate to New Jerseyans in the respect that we both hail from misrepresented states.

Ohio, according to folks from either coast or Chicago, is a dull land cursed with hours of boring farm land and bad weather. Our people are Midwestern simpletons, preferring a nap to anything requiring deep thought.

New Jerseyans, according to New Yorkers and everyone else, are a bunch of fist pumping guidos who live in a land filled with a funky aroma.

Like any stereotype, examples proving the stereotype can be found, but after visiting New Jersey with Courtney for Thanksgiving, I can safely say New Jersey is as good as any other state. Her hometown of Wayne, New Jersey is exactly the same typical suburb as my hometown of Mentor, OH on the shores of Lake Erie. Good places to come home to, but not necessarily places we would want to live. Both are filled with beautiful scenery and good people, even if it’s not the most diverse bunch of people in all the land. Where New Jerseyans fail is in a lack of state pride.

Ohioans, for the most part, hold their state up to a higher regard when compared to other Midwestern states. Is there anything different from our great state and neighboring states, such as Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Michigan? As a Buckeye, I say there is, but to the average traveler, Southern Ohio might as well be annexed by Kentucky. New Jerseyans need that obnoxious state pride many Ohioans have built into their character, especially with what New Jerseyans refer to as the city (as if it were the only city worth mentioning) nearby, New York City.

New York City is the mean big brother to New Jersey in many ways. Geographically speaking, if you look at the water surrounding the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, it’s technically New Jersey, yet the tourist spots mentioned above are in New York City’s territory. Jersey got the shaft there. No fist pumping there.

How about sports? The Jets and Giants both practice and play in New Jersey and many of the players live in Jersey suburbs. Do they get a mention in the team name? Nope. New Jersey will soon be left with only the New Jersey Devils of the NHL once the incompetent Nets move to Brooklyn. How fitting, though, that their final season in Jersey results in the worst opening in NBA history.

New York City has long played the role (and proudly) that they are the promised land to Jersey’s dump. New Jerseyans even cheer for New York City’s much loved Yankees, only to be taunted about where they live by their supposed fan-rades (comrades and fans spliced together).

New Jersey, whether you like it or not, New Yorkers, is a great place to live and New Jerseyans themselves need to start realizing that! They shouldn’t let the New Yorker mindset that Jersey is a crap-hole get into their self-deprecating psyche.

Courtney’s brother, Fred, summed it up perfectly over the weekend.

While watching the Jets game in Morristown, NJ, Courtney told her brother, “Joe can’t understand why New Jersey doesn’t fight for naming rights when the Jets both play and practice in Jersey.”
“New Jersey doesn’t exactly have a nice ring to it,” replied her brother.

Guess who would agree with him? New Yorkers. After decades of playing the incompetent little brother, New Jerseyans have even accepted their inferiority, and as an Ohioan with obnoxious state pride, that’s sad to me. Especially since I’d rather spend time in peaceful New Jersey than the tourist cluster-fuck of downtown NYC.

More New Jerseyans should follow Grandma Ivy’s blind pride.

“Have you ever been to New Jersey? Best darn state in the Union!” she told me two seconds after meeting her.

Do I agree with her? Of course not! I’m an obnoxious Ohioan who will defend (most of) my state until my last breath! But I’m glad to see there’s at least one New Jerseyan filled with blind pride like myself.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 10:10 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.