Just a Small Town Girl.

A little somethin' somethin' less articulate...

I hate my hometown. It’s small, suffocating, and ridiculously boring. The tallest building is a the Double Tree Hotel and I believe it’s only fourteen stories. Our downtown is identified by this one tall hotel building, numbered & lettered one-way streets, the popular movie theater accompanied by the one real parking structure in town, and an arch that lights up at night with the phrase “Modesto, Water Wealth Contentment Health.” There are now a total of six high schools, one junior college, two bowling alleys, two movie theaters, one two-story mall, and one freeway. While there remains to be a growing plethora of restaurants that’s about it when it comes to entertainment. Although they have recently finished building an “arts center” the small town of Modesto, California leaves much to be desired, for young people especially.
What do you do when you have nothing to do? Everything you’re told not to. One can have a great time doing everything you’re not supposed. One can also simultaneously work their ass of to get themselves into a good university. So I did.
And I left the place of no traffic where the number of orchards and dairies easily overwhelm the number of ATMs, and I moved south to the city where everyone comes to make their dreams come true: Los Angeles. I never really came with a big dream though. That’s probably because my big dream in life was to get out of my hometown. Which is also probably why I have no idea what I’m doing with my life, but I digress. Meeting people born and raised in and around LA, I’m quite jealous to say the least. They have always been a part of this wonderful, ridiculously versatile city. And I am brand new. But while I make it well known, just how much I hate my hometown, I’m grateful my family raised me there. Because after three years, although I’ve adopted a few LA behaviors (especially when behind the wheel), I’m still in awe of the huge freeways, the uber-tall buildings, being so close to the beach, the culture, the people, the traffic, everything. I suppose coming from such a small town allows me to appreciate living in a city. There are countless buildings above 14 stories, over five movie theaters within walking distance, two huge malls with parking structures just down the street, and that’s just what I can count from the roof of my apartment building. To me, the city just never ceases to amaze me. And I hope it never does.
But, traffic still sucks big donkey balls.