"This city is my city
And I love it, yeah I love it
I was born and raised here
I got it made here
And if I have my way, I'm gonna stay"
And I love it, yeah I love it
I was born and raised here
I got it made here
And if I have my way, I'm gonna stay"
I had an interesting conversation this morning with a friend. And now, a few hours later I can call it interesting. This morning I would have had other choice words for it. And I will make a little disclaimer that my friend & I agree it was nice to banter. I'm not mad at her and appreciate her viewpoint. (I always have appreciated a good chance to form an argument.) If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen the following tweet:
And this, my friends, is true. I love my dear city. My Twitter profile tells you, "My heart belongs to Milwaukee and my mind wanders everywhere else." It's the truth. And if there ever comes a time, I will always come to my fair city's defense. My frustration with someone dissing good old Milwaukee was heightened because this particular friend is FROM here. She grew up in the same small town I did. Since then she's bounced around for school, for grad school, for life. She's moving back across the globe soon.
I have a profound amount of respect for the well traveled. My parents instilled this in us from a young age and made sure that while we grew up in a small city we had all the experiences we could get from a large one. This is NOT a bitter post from someone who's never left her home town. I moved away for school, I've traveled around the world but I have chosen to make my life and plant my roots here in Milwaukee. I think Milwaukee is an amazing place. It's the biggest little town in the world. It's got a larger city feel while still feeling small enough to manage. There are communities within the City that are tight knit and friendly. There's fine dining, great social scenes and culture to boot. So you can imagine my frustration when we started talking about dating in Milwaukee and this was the comment she made...
*face palm*
I'm sorry, what was that? Then I built my case. I sent her to this site. I listed as many corporations I could that have their headquarters in Milwaukee (including my own. A company with 136,000 employees globally whose sales reached $40 BILLION last fiscal year). She then pointed out that while she does love Midwestern men (and married one from Milwaukee), they aren't always the most cultured and sophisticated. That while Milwaukee does have it's benefits, it's not the same as Chicago or New York City.
Milwaukee Men, I stood up for you. I explained that while due to it's sheer size by comparison, no it absolutely does not have as many corporations. (Duh.) But that the men here are a quality bunch. They have as much exposure to culture as any city and quite frankly when compared to other cities its size, they've got MORE. And in case it wasn't clear, I reaffirmed that some of the biggest douchebags I've ever met have hailed from the mentioned pillars of culture that are New York City and Chicago (because that's how I roll). Eventually she admitted, while she grew up near here, she hadn't ever really dated IN Milwaukee. So she conceded she might not know much about the "dating culture".
Milwaukee may not be a huge city, but it's my home. It helped shaped me into who I have become and will continue to impress me into who I will be. There are so many wonderful cities all over the world. Minneapolis still holds 4 of the best years of my life and has pulled me back for many trips since then. I have a love for London I never imagined could exist for a city I've only been to once. Annually I feel a deep seeded need to visit Chicago for a weekend. Everyone is free to come and go as they please, explore the world, but don't forget about Milwaukee. And sure as hell don't bash it once you've left.
*steps off soapbox*
Really want to piss me off and turn me into a ranting and raving lunatic? Take a jab at Milwaukee. I love my city.
And this, my friends, is true. I love my dear city. My Twitter profile tells you, "My heart belongs to Milwaukee and my mind wanders everywhere else." It's the truth. And if there ever comes a time, I will always come to my fair city's defense. My frustration with someone dissing good old Milwaukee was heightened because this particular friend is FROM here. She grew up in the same small town I did. Since then she's bounced around for school, for grad school, for life. She's moving back across the globe soon.
I have a profound amount of respect for the well traveled. My parents instilled this in us from a young age and made sure that while we grew up in a small city we had all the experiences we could get from a large one. This is NOT a bitter post from someone who's never left her home town. I moved away for school, I've traveled around the world but I have chosen to make my life and plant my roots here in Milwaukee. I think Milwaukee is an amazing place. It's the biggest little town in the world. It's got a larger city feel while still feeling small enough to manage. There are communities within the City that are tight knit and friendly. There's fine dining, great social scenes and culture to boot. So you can imagine my frustration when we started talking about dating in Milwaukee and this was the comment she made...
"Milwaukee lacks a lot of large, prominent corporations that bring really sophisticated, grounded men there."
*face palm*
I'm sorry, what was that? Then I built my case. I sent her to this site. I listed as many corporations I could that have their headquarters in Milwaukee (including my own. A company with 136,000 employees globally whose sales reached $40 BILLION last fiscal year). She then pointed out that while she does love Midwestern men (and married one from Milwaukee), they aren't always the most cultured and sophisticated. That while Milwaukee does have it's benefits, it's not the same as Chicago or New York City.
Milwaukee Men, I stood up for you. I explained that while due to it's sheer size by comparison, no it absolutely does not have as many corporations. (Duh.) But that the men here are a quality bunch. They have as much exposure to culture as any city and quite frankly when compared to other cities its size, they've got MORE. And in case it wasn't clear, I reaffirmed that some of the biggest douchebags I've ever met have hailed from the mentioned pillars of culture that are New York City and Chicago (because that's how I roll). Eventually she admitted, while she grew up near here, she hadn't ever really dated IN Milwaukee. So she conceded she might not know much about the "dating culture".
Milwaukee may not be a huge city, but it's my home. It helped shaped me into who I have become and will continue to impress me into who I will be. There are so many wonderful cities all over the world. Minneapolis still holds 4 of the best years of my life and has pulled me back for many trips since then. I have a love for London I never imagined could exist for a city I've only been to once. Annually I feel a deep seeded need to visit Chicago for a weekend. Everyone is free to come and go as they please, explore the world, but don't forget about Milwaukee. And sure as hell don't bash it once you've left.
*steps off soapbox*
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment