Philly for four months

2008-11-17T03:36:00.000-08:00

Jellybean People / National Liberty Museum / Philly, PA

We've now been in Philufya for almost 4 months. We are slowly
becoming more accustomed to a very different lifestyle than we were
used to. I've kept track of some of our initial observations of our
new home town in the hopes that I actually would get an email out to
our beloved California crew. Some good, some bad, most just
"different." So, here it goes:

1) Smoking. Is alive and well in Philly. We have even seen cigarette
machines pumping out the smokes. I think that this city is single-
handedly supporting the tobacco industry. Gross. (sorry to offend the
smokers out there... this city is just off da hook).

2) "Youse"- okay, so we chose to live in South Philly. What can you
expect, right? Hearing the word actually brings a warm fuzzy to my
heart. We've heard the word "youse" more times in the past 4 months
than I've heard in the 19 years we lived in California. Read: "Yo-
youse gotta move dat car- youse can't block dat street or youse gunna
git it. Youse follow?" Really.

3) Reusable grocery bags. For as eco-conscious as "us" Californians
try to behave, I must say that Philadelphia wins by a landslide for
reusable grocery bags. Everyone, yes everyone, brings their bags to
the grocery store. I don't know about you, but I really try to
remember to bring mine. I think I've improved my game to about 60-65%
with all the pressure out here. Kudos to Philly for this one. Which,
sadly, brings me to....

4) Produce, produce, produce. You have no idea what it is like to
walk into a grocery store in search of a particular fruit or
vegetable only to find that it is actually not available in the
store! What? Who has ever heard of such a thing?? California is
spoiled by tasty, juicy organic produce. Whatever, whenever, wherever
(okay, maybe not T. Joe's but really that doesn't count). This is a
tough one and will take a bit more time to get used to. Hey- we're
awfully proud of our Jersey tomatoes that we can get for 6 weeks
every summer (puh-lease).

5) Bicycle anarchy. On the streets of Philadelphia the rules do not
apply. Maybe 50% bicyclists wear helmets (not so bad considering even
less motorcyclists wear helmets) in a city of narrow streets with car
clippings galore. Trust me- I work in an ER where every day of work I
personally see at least 1 bicycle accident (and on any given shift I
work with 8 other providers). One-way street? No problem- I'll just
ride down the sidewalk. Look out all you pedestrians hogging the
pavement! Stop sign? Red light? No reason to stop here. Red is a blur
in my vision. I've actually been waved through stop signs by our
friendly neighborhood men in blue. Oh well- when in Rome...

6) Dirt. These streets are disgusting. Litter, trash, and of course
lots of cigarette butts. Why on earth should we have street cleaners
to make this city more attractive? Uh, create more jobs, improve our
esteem as NY's step-child city, attract more visitors, need I say
more?? Trash days are the best with the big, black 20-gallon trash
bags strewn along every sidewalk. Fierce. It is simply unbelievable
and words cannot do it justice.

7) A city of "firsts." Yes, history is what Philadelphia is all
about. We boast the country's first lending library, first hospital,
first African American Baptist church, and more. Riding my bicycle
(as anarchily as possible) around town always reveals another new
"first." It's inescapable. It's actually kind of interesting in a
nerdy kind of way.

8) I have been educated and have become a believer that Ben Franklin
truly was a renaissance man. He sure was something else. And a dreamy
forehead to boot. Ahhhhhhh.

9) Green. On Sundays, we must wear green. Unfortunately living in
Philadelphia it is expected whereas in Cali it was actually cool.
I've been true green ever since the 70's and that's not going to
change (although I wish that the Birds would ditch Reid already). I'm
just not able to wear the green so much anymore. Bah-humbug.

10) Construction. And construction. And more construction. I have
never seen so much construction in any city. I'm not talking freeway
construction (er, um, rather "expressway" or "interstate") although
that is a-happenin' too. I'm talking every other friggin' block
around the streets of Philly. Considering that practically every
street is one-way and alternates in direction as you travel along
perpendicularly, one detour has you going 4 blocks out of your way.
And then lo and behold- another detour = another 4 blocks and before
you know it, you have just driven an extra 15 minutes to go your
original 5 blocks. That's why we are sticking to the bikes- and the
sidewalks! ;-)

11) One-way, narrow streets that cars/trash trucks/Comcast (hiss)/
delivery trucks/ETC stop on a whim and block traffic. Period. Just a
wee bit infuriating when you are actually trying to get somewhere.
And then there are 3 cars behind you who have to back-up one by one
before you get your chance to get out of the street to carry on about
your business. Oh, and chances are, you are going to be detoured by
construction and end up right behind that damn Comcast van again.
Lesson learned = always have reading material in your car.

So, hope that helps to sort out the important things about our new
homeland. So different than where we are used to that this list
doesn't even scratch the surface. Hmmmm, I think this list is all
about the surface. Hope all is well in Cali and know that we are
missing you all more than you could ever imagine!

Philly Philes

Philly for four months