Bestest Friend and I are in the middle of a blog project. Each day of
the month we will post a picture on a pre-determined theme and write a
little something about it. The theme for the twenty-sixth day of each month is "Support."
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We had lived here for two weeks when we overheard some townies discussing, rather loudly, how "the people at the university" just "come to town, take money from the college, and go live in Madison" and how "unfriendly" they were. As I reached around one of the ladies to grab some Parmesean, I couldn't help myself.
"Excuse me. One of the university people needs to get by you to get this cheese."
Welcome to Nowhere, Wisconsin, where the divide between the university and the rest of the town is so stark that it provides new meaning to "tense town-gown relations."
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We had lived here for two weeks when we overheard some townies discussing, rather loudly, how "the people at the university" just "come to town, take money from the college, and go live in Madison" and how "unfriendly" they were. As I reached around one of the ladies to grab some Parmesean, I couldn't help myself.
"Excuse me. One of the university people needs to get by you to get this cheese."
Welcome to Nowhere, Wisconsin, where the divide between the university and the rest of the town is so stark that it provides new meaning to "tense town-gown relations."
I do "buy local" when I can. I try to be a good neighbor and go to community events. I drop dollar bills into tip jars, know the names of the owners at the local bike shop, pet store, and tailor, but I'm inextricably tied to the state university that is the entire reason for this town's very existence. I refuse to apologize for this party of my identity.
I wish the university, particularly the students and the staff and faculty who live in this small town, would get the support of more local families. I wish the holiday parade had at least one float sponsored by just one organization on campus. I wish students volunteered to help at the local "Walk for the Animals" instead of just wondering what the paw prints spray-painted on the road are. I wish that more university employees lived in town, instead of driving fifty miles away to a larger community. I really do want to continue living here, but I'm not sure it's going to be a long term possibility if "local" people don't realize that we can hear them talking smack about "us" in the dairy aisle.
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To see what Bestest Friend wrote about the theme of the day, check out her blog, Too Legit to Quit.
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