After living in Chicago for 9 years, some branches have been pruned off the further I have grown from my east coast roots. Calling soda ‘pop’ does not bother me anymore. The fact that people are clueless and even insulting towards WaWa is wearing off. The ignorance surrounding thin crust pizza, hoagies and Philly pretzels still is staggering at times, but at least not surprising anymore.
But I find, I cannot get Philly out of my blood. I have realized that Philly is a disorganized, dirty, conjested, smog-filled city and that the east coast tolerates its lack of class because they have Newark and Camden to help them feel better. I live now on the outskirts of a city whose landscape, attractions, parks, cleanliness and architecture make my previous urban sprawl look like a 3rd world city
And yet … somehow I feel proud writing even her errors. Because even though Chicago may have world class, they will never have Philly personality. They will know us for the liberty bell or the art museum … which few of us even care about. But, they will never boo at Santa Claus. While they make speak in sarcasm, it will never be their mother tongue. They will settle for fake cheesesteaks, which would make William Penn himself vomit in his grave. They will never have serious suspicion based on the tallest (almost) building downtown. They wont know what it means to see Brian Dawkins lead the fight song. They may love Rocky, but never really understand why he is a legitimate art form and should be displayed by the museum. They may see Bill Cosby as funny, but will never know what he truly represents to the people in the city.
Ah Chicago… I will still cheer for the Cubs (because I am mad at Philadelphia to suddenly switching to the Phillies). I will eat your pizza and admit your landscape is better and love your people. I will become a good Chicago suburbanite and will complain about Rod and enjoy Chipotle and drink from the Starbucks on every corner.
But, I cant give up Philly, no matter how proud I am for recognizing the buildings in the new Batman movies.
2 comments:
Ben. Beautiful...
When your favorite sports hero (Rocky) is a boxer who doesn't exist, it hurts your credibility as a sports town. But, virtually all fans can sing (badly) the Eagles fight song, still collectively grind their teeth at Ricky Waters' "for who, for what" defense for not reaching for a pass over the middle, and feel like drinking buddies with Aaron Rowand simply because he broke his nose on the wall to make the catch. I think you gave us a fair hearing. Go Eagles!
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