Our Town: Part 2
Okay, so in an earlier entry I was complaining about this town. Well here is the reason why. To me, there isn't a real community in this town. Now there might be if you are born and raised here, but the second you are an outsider, well you are one of "them" and you really dont get what it means to be an asshole here. You see, if you are an outsider, it would seem that the reason you are is because you came here with for the university, not for your love of everything else the town has to offer (it should be noted that this town wouldn't even be here if there had not been a land grant signed by the federal government, allowing the university to be made as a farming school, which i suspect the motivation for doing so was related to a post-civil war reconstruction campaign, but i haven't read up on that idea) so you are here to work. oh what's that, you dont make more than 80k a year? well yeah, then the town doesnt have much to say for you. you're out there for the wolves to devour you.
then we have a place like reynoldsville, pennsylvania. you see, i just found out that a week ago one of the people i graduated with died. yeah, i got a long with him in high school, but after that we didn't talk much. i only ran into him here and there. well it ends up the kid had cancer and unfortunately he lost that fight. well, while he was going through medical treatment, what little money his family had was sucked up real fast by the bastards that provide healthcare at a price that only the rich can afford to pay. what did that mean in the end? his family had to find a way to pay for the funeral for their son. well this is where small town America kicks in, and this is what gives me faith in the people still. There was a larege memorial event held in honor of the kid since everyone in the town knew him. he was easy going, like to hunt, fish and be in the woods, those sort of things. anyways, when this dinner was held, what happened? well first off the food was being made locally, and was probably donated. but the tickets to go were 5 dollars a piece. so the people kick in five bucks and now the family wont ahve to worry about the bill. a pretty amazing thing i must say. i know i have never heard of such things happening around here.
so yeah, this place might have the great penn state university and be called Happy Valley, but it is in no way a community. The only sense of community that i get from this place is that there are two groups, townies and outsiders. they dont mix, and when you are one, you will never ever become another one.
When i moved to dubois I was accepted very quickly. more so than i was at the town i lived in before. the people of my home town seem to allow new people in much easier and are happy to see a new face. does that mean that cities are different? well i dont know. i have never lived in a metropolitan area, but i am almost willing to be that even in a city a sense of community still thrives. there are neighborhoods, hell, streets that I am sure people look out for one another on. this place is just messed up. I have rid myself of the idea that I am married to this town and have some sort of obligation to stay here. the world is out there waiting for me to find a spot to live in and help out. I just need to find the place I want to call home.
then we have a place like reynoldsville, pennsylvania. you see, i just found out that a week ago one of the people i graduated with died. yeah, i got a long with him in high school, but after that we didn't talk much. i only ran into him here and there. well it ends up the kid had cancer and unfortunately he lost that fight. well, while he was going through medical treatment, what little money his family had was sucked up real fast by the bastards that provide healthcare at a price that only the rich can afford to pay. what did that mean in the end? his family had to find a way to pay for the funeral for their son. well this is where small town America kicks in, and this is what gives me faith in the people still. There was a larege memorial event held in honor of the kid since everyone in the town knew him. he was easy going, like to hunt, fish and be in the woods, those sort of things. anyways, when this dinner was held, what happened? well first off the food was being made locally, and was probably donated. but the tickets to go were 5 dollars a piece. so the people kick in five bucks and now the family wont ahve to worry about the bill. a pretty amazing thing i must say. i know i have never heard of such things happening around here.
so yeah, this place might have the great penn state university and be called Happy Valley, but it is in no way a community. The only sense of community that i get from this place is that there are two groups, townies and outsiders. they dont mix, and when you are one, you will never ever become another one.
When i moved to dubois I was accepted very quickly. more so than i was at the town i lived in before. the people of my home town seem to allow new people in much easier and are happy to see a new face. does that mean that cities are different? well i dont know. i have never lived in a metropolitan area, but i am almost willing to be that even in a city a sense of community still thrives. there are neighborhoods, hell, streets that I am sure people look out for one another on. this place is just messed up. I have rid myself of the idea that I am married to this town and have some sort of obligation to stay here. the world is out there waiting for me to find a spot to live in and help out. I just need to find the place I want to call home.