Dear America,
We are the REAL New Jersey. We are NOT the cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore or Jerseylicious or the “Real Housewives” of New Jersey. We are hard-working people who happen to live in a beautiful state that is often the butt of biased comedians’ jokes. But that is because they don’t know us; they only know the stereotyped Jerseyite.
We are educated. We are resilient. We take great pride in our state. Our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were immigrants who worked in refineries, docks and train stations. We are the sons and daughters of blue collar workers that allowed (by hard work , sacrifice, and sweat) New York City’s economic development to occur. We are the grandchildren and children of police officers, teachers, railroad workers and firefighters.We also take amazing pride in our homes. Why? Because we have worked many jobs to afford them in a state that is very expensive to live in due to our resources. You see, others save up to visit here; we have to work that much harder to live here. Yet, we relish our mountains, we enjoy being near forests and streams, and our New Jersey Coastline is the most amazing natural site. Though a cliché, our backyards are the vacation spots for other people. From Keansburg Amusement Park to Atlantic City, we offer a plethora of experiences enhanced by the majestic and natural beauty of our beaches and the friendly demeanor of our people.
And when our backs are up against the wall, we will come together and work toward a common goal. So pray for us, assist us if you feel inclined to with donations….and then WATCH US as we get through this difficult challenge victoriously, We will be ready to serve frozen custard, funnel cake and salt water taffy with the sounds of: the Seaside Park Roller Coaster, Atlantic City Casino’s, Bon Jovi playing at Asbury Park, screams from Runaway Rapids in Keansburg, horse and buggy rides in Cape May, the yelling kids on the Himalaya at Point Pleasant or the sound of Jetskis roaring off the water in Sandy Hook and Belmar in the background.
We are New Jersey…and we will get through this with our diligence and the Grace of God.
~ R. Heitmann
November 1, 2012
I saw this on Facebook today and while you may have seen it too, it just tells this man’s story. It doesn’t tell ours.
I don’t talk much about this but I actually purposely moved to this area when I was 18. I will not go into all the circumstances, my family knows them and this isn’t the time for that discussion. However I did choose this area for a reason. I loved that this area (New York City, in particular) seemed to be where it was at. Everything was here. It probably also helped that I was a big Billy Joel fan. When I first moved here, I lived in Connecticut. Connecticut is very Norman Rockwell’isk. Most of the towns have town greens and have that feel of a small town, even if they are large.
When I came out here I flew into a small upstate New York airport. I will never forget the feeling that I got as I saw New York City for the first time. I was TERRIFIED!! I thought I had seen cities. I grew up in Washington and I had seen Seattle, how much bigger could New York be?? Well it was BIG. I remember I rode past the World Trade Center and instantly I remembered the video from the first bombing. I didn’t even want to go near it. There were so many people and buildings that are so tall that they would go on for several blocks if laid on their side. It was frightening! It is amazing that in about 5-6 years later, I was actually going into New York City to go dancing on my own. Perceptions change when your out here I guess.
I never lived in New York City. I did live in New York state (upstate) though. And now we live in New Jersey. It is almost like I have danced around New York City.
New Jersey was a different animal though. For most people that live in places other then New Jersey in points north, when they go south through New Jersey, they don’t think much of it. The New Jersey Turnpike isn’t that exciting. You see the refineries outside New York City, and in the south you just see typical shrubbery that you see on the side of any highway in the country that isn’t a desert. I can see why people wouldn’t think much of New Jersey. If all you see is the Turnpike, you certainly haven’t seen much of Jersey.
I came to New Jersey initially for work. I had a job interview here to work with a family as a live in nanny. They paid for me to come here and see where they live and see how I would interact with their child. Clearly I did well, as I got the job and they are still in limited contact with me. That trip, I saw a different side of New Jersey. It was green! And not just green like the cudsu on the side of the road green, but green with trees and towns like my favorite Connecticut! There is a culture here. There is a history here. Yes it is expensive to live here, but when your a live in nanny, that is hardly a concern… as long as you have a job.
You have seen on here the photos we have taken on the Jersey shore. Pretty much every time we have went there, I have posted photos on here to show it. We are not big shore people and this is how we see it.
New Jersey grows on you. I started to love it when I was working for the afore mentioned family. Now, I am really calling it home, though I am still from Washington state.
The things that I personally love about this state is the diversity of it. Everyone is here, and if they are not here now, give it a few weeks and that person will be here. If America is a melting pot, New Jersey is the broth. Many people come through the state on the way to bigger and better things, or a few stay around and love this state as much as we do.
I also love the location of it. I mean, it is truly centrally located. In 5 hours (strangely from anywhere in the state nearly) I could be in Boston or in DC or any point inbetween. I want to go skiing (I am married to a man who understands physics, skiing is at the bottom of my list now!) I can go 2 hours and be there. I want to go to the beach and see the boardwalks (prior to the storm) I can drive less then an hour and be there! I go to farms (after all this is the garden state) in less then 30 minutes. Everything is nearby.
I also love how resilient this area is. I was living here (as I have mentioned before) when 9/11 happened. I feel that people came together then just like they are pulling together now. Yeah everywhere is resilient to a certain degree, but just imagine how that is when your neighbor may not speak english as a first language. That is New Jersey and honestly this whole area.
Yes I could complain about the property taxes. As a homeowner they are not fun. It nearly makes me cry when I hear how low certain parts of the country are. However we get a lot for that. So the cost to me is okay (not that I want to see it go up). The cost of living is high here. Yep. That stinks but again, I am getting what I pay for. And we have found ways to cut costs even here in New Jersey. I could also complain about the corruption. Our own mayor recently had a scandal that he took a bribe of $10,000. Tony’s first words were “Really? That is all he could get as a kick back??” However where does this not happen? I could also complain about how we are the butt of many jokes. Honestly I like that. Some are funny, others are just true, others I don’t understand. If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?
However, we also don’t have to pump our own gas! Yeah this can be a negative because when I travel to other states, they assume I am a stupid New Jersey gal who doesn’t know how to pump gas when I am at a pump that doesn’t work (which sadly has happened). And our gas tax is one of the lower ones around! We also have very clean roadways (generally speaking) in a snow storm. They know what to do to clean snow and ice from the roadways and normally they are on top of it. The bad news this normally involves salt, but nobody is perfect.
For me the bottom line is that I know this state is great. Tony and I both feel that it would take a lot for us to move. We really didn’t like the idea last year. Yeah a new place would be fun and exciting but I would rather stay here. Here is exciting and surprisingly I am still finding new things!
So please don’t think that all of New Jersey is like how you saw on the Sopranos (I think it is interesting that show ended with a song from a band out of Chicago… they couldn’t find a song from a Jersey band??) and the other shows that are suppose to be about this state. We don’t all talk with Jersey accents. In fact I would say all of our friends don’t have that accent. We don’t all purchase hair spray in bulk, we don’t all have skeletons in our back yard from the mafia. We are normal people who live in (and in our case love) this state and want nothing but good things for it.
As a side note, Tony’s office still has no power. Hopefully it will be restored over the weekend. We will both be happy if the workers who restored it knew what they were doing, and that is all. We don’t care if they are union members, or band members, as long as they know what they are doing, they are welcome in our book!