Philadelphia to Charlotte…whiplash, much?
Comments: 2 - Date: January 18th, 2008 - Categories: Charlotte, editorial, I've noticed..., random
In July of 2007 I moved from the city of brotherly love to the queen city. Since that was six months ago, I will back track using bullet points.
Here are some of my thoughts from the first few months:
1) “My what a clean city.” Seriously. After Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, visited Philadelphia in April of 2007 he told New Orleanians:
Let me tell you something: Ya’ll outa go to Philly, and you will appreciate how clean New Orleans is. Just go and walk around Philly a little bit, and you will appreciate – am I lying? You will appreciate New Orleans. We still have some work to do, but we definitely beat them by a long shot.
Charlotte seemed immaculate.
2) “When did this road change?” This bothers me to this day. The city needs to utilize their road signs. The “Do Not Enter” signs are placed in a way that it looks like you can’t enter a one way street that is going in your direction. And larger street signs would not be a miss.
3) “Where’s the fire?” Jeez Charlotte drivers, slow down! This is another one that gets to me. It made me miss Philadelphia drivers. Ever driven in Philadelphia? I shouldn’t miss them.
4) “Public Transportation? Really?” Every morning and afternoon when I drove for an hour to my apartment (about 19 miles away) I would remember the days when I was in college and I took a SEPTA train to and from school. It was nice. It took about 30 minutes, there was no traffic…all I had to do was show up on time. Of course it wasn’t perfect. It was late and trains broke down and there were areas of Philadelphia where it didn’t really go, but it was better than nothing.
5) “I want a zoo.” Ya know? Sometimes you just want to go look at monkeys. I once told someone that the Liberty Bell got boring, but the Philadelphia Zoo never did.
6) “Wow, I feel safe here.” Philadelphia’s crime rate is now breaking records. The newly sworn in Mayor Nutter declared it an emergency. But here, I don’t hear gunshots almost every night and I don’t feel like I need to carry my tazer. Good job.
7) “McCrory seems nice.” When I moved here he was in Esquire and about to break the record for consecutive terms. Former Philadelphia Mayor John Street wasn’t known for his charisma and looks. It was an odd 180.
8 ) “Why are the sports fans so nice?” I don’t think they’d boo Santa Claus or cheer over career ending injuries… weird.
9) “Wawa? I wish.” Anyone who has been to a Wawa knows what I’m talking about.
10) “ I miss my dog.” I would have said that regardless of where I moved.
I’m not sure which city I like more. I’m still testing the waters in Charlotte. We’ll see what happens as I slowly call this place home.
“It’s Armistice Day, Veteran’s Day, on Sunday the 11th of November, honoring our veterans going back over history, and when the fifth graders memorize the poem, ‘In Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place; and in the sky, the larks, still bravely singing, fly scarce heard amid the guns below.’ A poem that has that terrible idea in it that the living are obliged to carry on the wars of the dead. Which simply is not true. Robert E. Lee, when he decided that enough people had died for his cause and he rode off to Appomattox Courthouse to meet General Grant, that was a noble moment, when he decided to spare the lives of the rest of his men. World War One, of which they’ve only got four veterans remaining in this country, one of the worst wars ever fought in the history of man’s cruelty to other men. Millions died in that war, commanded by generals who were far to the rear who were looking at maps without any idea of the terrain that men were attacking across, men rose up out of trenches and charged machine guns, they were fighting using 19th century tactics against 20th century weaponry. It was a war that nobody should have died in and it never did end. It then led to World War 2, they were continuing the war they had fought before, they were picking up the torch from those who had fallen. And perhaps World War Two continues on today in these countries that were created by World War 2. One could on Veteran’s Day, I think, wish for peace and pray for peace and hope that this all soon comes to an end.”
