Here are some musings of mine, recently rejected for the My View column. (adapted to take a slightly more bloggy tone…)
As most of you know, I moved to Buffalo five years ago from a small town in Pennsylvania. For any newcomers, yes, you read that right. I moved to Buffalo. I can�t begin to tell you how many times I�ve had to explain to people from my hometown why I would move to Buffalo, and how many times I�ve had to explain to Buffalonians why I would want to stay here. I think, in any place, it�s easy to take for granted the good things you have. Yes, it snows here. Yes, the government is in disarray. Even so, there are plenty of good things that should be noted.
Whilel I was home over the holidays, I started thinking about all of the things I like about living in New York in general, and Buffalo in particular. Here are just a few of them.
First off, there�s No smoking in bars and restaurants. Each and every time I go back to Pennsylvania to visit, I find myself thankful that I live in a place where I can enjoy a meal, a drink, or a concert in a smoke-free environment. At Thanksgiving, my cousin wanted me to come out to one of the local watering holes. I politely declined, citing my advanced age of 31 as the reason, but truthfully, I�ve lost my patience for dealing with the smoky clothes, smoky hair, red, itchy eyes and inevitable asthma attack that would come from spending an evening in a bar. And that leads me to�
The ability to buy beer at the local grocery/corner store. My brother was trying to figure out where to buy a six-pack of beer, because in St. Marys, there are two places you can buy beer. You can go to the distributor and buy a case, or you can go into a bar and buy a six pack. (Or two, but no more than two. In some areas, there are designated �beer stores,� but in our little town, you�ve just got the state liquor stores and beer distributors.) Life is just so much easier when you can pick it up at the grocery store. And speaking of the grocery store�
Wegmans. Rand and I went out on Christmas Eve-Eve to pick up some things at the grocery store. St. Marys has two major grocery stores: BiLo (a Penn Traffic company), and the Wal-Mart Supercenter. We went to BiLo. I had been charged with the task of picking up several deli meats and cheeses for an appetizer my aunt wanted to make. To make a long story short, the person waiting on me didn�t know what a third of a pound was, the deli was out of sandwich pepperoni, and the whole experience was so painfully S-L-O-W that I wanted to scream. I had to buy potatoes in bags, because only �baking� potatoes can be purchased in bulk. We had thought about making an appetizer that would have required a French baguette, but there were none to be found. I thought about buying some brie. Again, none to be found. �I miss Wegmans,� I whined. I didn�t think it was possible to become so attached to a grocery store. And as long as we�re talking food�
Mighty Taco. Some people in this town don�t know how good they have it! Before I discovered the wonder that is the Mighty, I wouldn�t have dreamed of eating fast food Mexican. I don�t understand how that other place even stays open in WNY.
Small things? Maybe. But these small things go a long way toward making me feel at home here. 🙂
Hey, you were “Talkin’ Proud” about Buffalo and the Snooze didn’t want to publish it?! What-evah! And it’s weird, I don’t think they sell beer in NYS liquor stores…
Yeah, go figure. 😉
The liquor stores in PA don’t sell beer…only “beer distributors” sell beer. I think you can get 4-packs of wine coolers at the liquor store, though.
Screw the snooze. We are lucky to have Wegmans. We are lucky to have and be aware of- hopefully appreciate our splendid history. We are even luckier to have a person such as yourself articulate us the way you do. Thanks. Oh- and screw the snooze.
I went into a Wegman’s in Rochester in ’03 and became an instant convert. And I am with you on the grocery/convenience store beer thing. New York is ever so much more civilized about these things than PA. But on the other hand, PA is where my house is…so, I visit Wegmans seldom but enjoy it and go to BiLo frequently. And yes, I avoid local bars for the same smoky reason. I like it when we agree on some things.
Omg; I know what you mean!
Ok, you can smoke in TN, which, uh…blows.
But good grocery stores? Hey, I lived in the Bay area, and got spoiled.
Thankfully, we have an Earth Fare. And a Fresh Market, and…well, more than BiLo (which, it turns out, is here as well.)
And I love being able to go out to eat and order more than a baked potato, bread and side salad; I will 40 before I run out of veg-friendly options around here!
In St. Marys? Not so much. “We can scrape the bacon off?”
Ugh.
I miss Wegman’s! I grew up in central NY and completed my undergrad degree at UB. Having lived in the South for 7 years, I still make it a point to go to Wegman’s when I head to Rochester to visit the nieces. I
Even so, there are plenty of good things that should be noted.
Really?
I’ve lived her for 34 years, and no matter what “little things” are, the big thing is, many people are fleeing to find a better job elsewhere.
I would personally love to be paid what I’m worth with 3 college degrees.
The glass ceiling here still exists.
There is patronage afoot in every job you try to apply for. (I was a patronage worker – I see the downside of it.)
I could move to Jersey and still be able to visit wegmans. Hell I would probably even have a better paying job there!
Three degrees in what? I’m curious about a person that has 3 different majors, or are they an AS, BS and MS all in a closely related field? Also it’s not so much the number of degrees but what you studied, and even more importantly, what you can do that will determine your worth. Is your skill set really common or really rare? You know supply and demand and all that.
Government is rife with patronage. The private sector not so much. Unless you consider networking and professional reputation as patronage.
Maybe they didn’t want so much specific mention of particular companies or stores (not that I mind, in one particular case!).
You like Mighty Taco?!?!?
BS in Business
BS in Elementary Education from the 1990s.
BS in Computer Security recently.
I guess I have a pretty scarce education.
Mighty Taco in the 1970s was known as “Mighty Dog.”