Sunday, February 03, 2008

AnNYnoying

I'm not a native New Yorker. In fact, I'm not even a New Yorker. I reside in New York. I love it here, but I'm not a fan some of the people.

Or any of their sports teams.

Having attended college in Atlanta during the Braves' first major wins in the 90's, it's hard for me to root for anyone but them. Between Joe and me, we could be rooting for a number of college teams: Florida, Georgia Tech, Georgia, and most SEC schools. Too bad Oglethorpe hasn't had a football team since the 1930's. I've never been much of a pro-football fan, but I supported the Falcons when they went to the Super Bowl that one year - that year that half of Atlanta's power was wiped out for about an hour before the game.

Here, there aren't that many college teams. Comparatively speaking. I mean, a ninety-minute drive could take you between two major football powerhouse college towns in Georgia (Athens and Atlanta) - here, not so much. There doesn't seem to be a lot of community support for college sports (well, maybe West Point, but who can't beat Army most seasons?).

But ooooooooh, the pro sports. Yankees, Mets, Giants, oh my. All kinds of Jersey teams get mixed in as well. And there is nothing - NOTHING - more annoying and aggressive than the fans. I've been told that I'm in New York now - I have to cheer for the right teams. Have to. For every win that the Yankees have, the Mets fans at work get hassled. Vice versa for a Mets win. Even if it's the first game of the season. Everyone is IN YO FACE about their team - the best team EVAH.

So it just about pushed me over the edge yesterday while I was at the grocery store - Giants fans EVERYWHERE stocking up for the parties they would have tonight. I hate crowds anyway, and crowds at the grocery store just make me cranky. There was not one single aisle that I went down where I didn't have to wait while two people and carts, blocking both "lanes" of travel, stood, debated, talked on cell phones, and made crucial decisions about which onion dip or paper plates to buy. Then, at checkout, I got to hear a very irritated (and loud) older woman tell her friend about this coupon:
It's fifty-noin cents a pahhnd for tha Purdue roaster. Have ya husband pick it up - I don't need any. Why didn't they put this in the moaaning papah? I coulda used it. But fifty-noin cents a paaahnd - you'd be stoopid not to pick it up. Yadda yadda yadda, ad nauseum.

Mornings like that make me very bitter about living here and make me want to move upstate where not so many formerly-city-folks have migrated. They talk like normal people (as opposed to Rosie Perez or Joan Rivers), they help others, and they're just plain nice. If we have kids and raise them here, I'm going to give them speech lessons every day of their lives in order to not have a New York accent. It's like nails on a chalkboard to me. I really love living here, but there are some things I just haven't gotten used to.

That's why I cheer for the Boston Red Sox and, tonight, the New England Patriots. Because nothing pisses off NY fans more than a Boston/New England win. :)

Okay - rant over - look at the pretty groundhog!

This is Homer, who lives under our house. This is NOT a picture from yesterday, where it was icy and overcast. Homer didn't see his shadow yesterday, because I doubt he even came out of his den. He's no fool.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Go Pats! Like I really care. But still. Go Pats!

You don't have a southern accent, and neither do I. I talk like my parents. If you have kids, they will probably talk like you. Your daily speech lessons will just be you talking to your kid in your normal voice. So don't worry!

Lorena said...

I thought that was mighty green grass for all the snow I thought you guys just had...