I don't know when or why I became such a Fresno hater. I'm glad I grew up in the valley, I went to good schools, most of my friends are still there, Indo most my clothes and make up shopping here, get my hair done here, and my entire family is located in Fresno. I do enjoy coming back and visiting but the longer I stay, the more annoyed and pissy I become.
So what's the big deal? I've started referring to Fresno and the valley as a, pardon my language, a shit hole. The air is horrible, I've seen the mountains one time since we've been in town. The unemployment rate is heartbreaking, I believe this is a cause to all the traffic around town. Also- I feel like North Fresno keeps getting ritzier and ritzier while the poor get poorer, or shitted on. Holy cow, there are so many luxury cars around town! Like what the hell do these people all do for a living? I know a lot of people work really hard and earn nice things, but my gut tells me 90% of the people driving luxury cars in Fresno are doing it to keep up with the Joneses and are just digging themselves into a big debt hole. Then I look at all the new development. There are so many empty store fronts in strip malls throughout town, but people keep building new shopping centers. How about you fill up the empty spaces before you build new centers with store fronts that will never be filled?
Maybe I'm not about keeping up with the Joneses, or maybe 5 years of being out of the valley has changed me. I don't know what it is or where my negativity comes from. Maybe some of that East Coast bitterness rubbed of on me, who knows.
I do enjoy seeing my friends who have also left the valley who share my feelings about this place. I don't hate Fresno, I don't think I'm better than Fresno, I mean come on people I live in Iowa. I just think Fresno and people in Fresno can do better.
I guess I just find the doucheyness(is that even a word?) of North Fresno a little annoying and after about a week of it, I can't handle it anymore.
That being said, I love my family and my friends here. The friends I have in Fresno work hard and play hard, they are grounded, have values, and make Fresno tolerable when I am here. They constantly remind me that good people live here and grow up here and are not all crazy douches.
Katie teases me for refusing to tell people in L.A. that I am from Fresno. For one, I'm from KINGSBURG, so it's inaccurate to say otherwise. So when people ask, I just say "I'm from up north." Up North. I leave the rest to their imagination.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind the valley so much if it weren't for the awful attitudes exhibited by so many of the middle-upper classes. Y'all aren't hot shit. You'd be lower-middle class in MY city. But really, stop acting like you're better than your neighbors, your employees, your fruit-pickers and anyone with a slightly different perspective.
Live out those "Christian" values, goddamnit.
Love you, Jess.