Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Seven

Today is seven years ago that I flew the coop and moved to Chicago. I left behind the land of bubblers and Tyme machines, aka Milwaukee.

Holy crap does time fly. I remember before I was about to graduate from MIAD I made up my mind that I was going to move to Chicago. Seven years later I'm still here. Unfortunately it's also 7 years that I've been at my job. Yikes. I know I've bitched about it in the past, but now I really need a new job. I've come to discover how underpaid I am. Don't get my started.

Seriously, thank you Chicago for being my second home.



August seems to be a month of anniversaries. On the 15th my boo boo and I celebrate our 3rd anniversary :)

I am so glad I don't live in Milwaukee anymore. Don't get me wrong it's a nice city and all, my family is there, I have some wonderful friends back home but I think I would go nuts if I ever had to live there again. I might as well live on the South Side of Chicago (if you want a comparison). Oh wait I did that for four years. You get my drift.

10 comments:

Sexbox said...

Congratulations! I remember when I told everyone I wanted to move to Chicago after I graduated. Most people rolled their eyes and gave that "yeah, sure" look. Then when I did move I heard through the grapevine people people were still convinced I would move back. Whatever! I had absolutely nothing keeping me in Moo-Town, why go back? Did you experience this same type of skepticism from your friends?

bomitoni said...

Not really, I think most people were jealous cause they still had to live in Mootown! LOL.

MatadorMexicano said...

gah! im jealous. hopefully by mis 2007 ill be in either Chicaggo or NYC.

Dave said...

Well, all I can say is that I live in Milwaukee and I love my job and I don't feel like a "loser." In fact I think I've been pretty successful here. Clearly there's something wrong with me.

MatadorMexicano said...

did you get it????

Sexbox said...

How odd. I have reread the post and comment yet no one ever used the word "loser" once, nor even alluded to the fact that people who live in Milwaukee are losers. What's good for me (or bomitoni) may not be good for others. Dave, maybe you should leave Milwaukee cuz it seems like it has left you a little bitter!

Dave said...

Bitter? Having read your comments on the hilarious website www.milwaukee-sucks.blogspot.com , I have to conclude that you are the one who is bitter. The "epitome of everything that is wrong with the midwest?" When you make over-generalized statements and disparaging comments (otherwise known as "bashing") you sound both bitter, and childish.

I have left Milwaukee, Mr. Sexbox. I have lived elsewhere, and I came back. There are things that I like about Milwaukee, and things that I don't like. But along the way I've discovered that success in life, in America at least, is the result of 40% ability, 50% attitude, and 10% other factors, including geography. Of course where you live does matter; if my life's ambition was to become a cattle rancher, I would have to move to a particular geography to do that in. But most of the time, when someone goes around saying that the place they live in is the Worst Place Ever, it's usually their attitude that needs adjusting. I have had so many friends convince themselves that if only they moved to (X city) they'd be happy, and they found out that they were just as miserable there as they were here.

Sexbox said...

Well, if you actually took the time to read the entire post that quote came from you would see that even I admited that perhaps I was "exagerating". Good for you if you love Moo-Town. Someone has to live there I guess!

bomitoni said...

While I am sure there are places worse off than Milwaukee, I can say that having lived their practically my entire life I always felt it's small town mind set was very limiting. Everyone seems to know everyone, or someone who knows you and it sucks not to have anonomity from time to time. What it all comes down to is the individual, as you've said. With that said...let's move on shall we?

Dave said...

It's true that Milwaukee is not huge. It's a fairly average sized city. It's not a "big city" like a Chicago or LA, but it's not "small city" like Madison or Des Moines. It's somewhere in between. It's not quite an "everybody knows everybody" kind of place but it's close. When you meet somebody for the first time, chances are they know somebody you know. In Milwaukee your repuation is everything because you can't lose yourself in the crowd like you could in Chicago or New York.

In some ways this is limiting, but it has its advantages. In Chicago or New York you have to "know the right people" to get ahead, and those "right people" are very inaccessable. If you are a "nobody" in their eyes they will simply not call you back. There is some of that in Milwaukee, but overall I find that the movers and shakers in this town are remarkable accessable. Everybody in Milwaukee has a legitimate claim at being a "somebody," whereas in bigger cities if you're not "in" then you're a nobody, and you could be the most talented person in the world and still never get your foot in the door.