A view of Manhattan from across the Hudson River
A blog while I intern at MAD Magazine
I took some time today to wander around my immediate surroundings: Jersey City, NJ. Though I have been staying here for a week now, I had not ventured any further than a half mile from my sleeping quarters. I have my reasons.
Today I decided explore. And like all great explorers in the history of the world, the first thing I did was to look up the city’s official website. Judging from the pictures that they display, Jersey City is a clean place. Not so clean today. Or any of the other days since I’ve been here for that matter.
I’m not complaining, mind you. I’m just telling it like it is: there is a lot of litter in this place. It’s actually a bit odd. I feel like I’m a Twilight Zone episode walking around streets laden with trash and no one seems to mind. It might be one of those things that we, as humans, get used to the sight of. But for me, it’s weird.
My hometown is Las Cruces, NM. And while there may not be lots of urban excitement, the place is clean. In fact, that’s one of the things I like best about Las Cruces. And because it’s clean, it seems like people are less likely to muss it up. There’s a psychology lesson in there somewhere…
There’s always a silver lining though. While I was walking around I thought to myself, Jersey City should use this to their advantage. They should embrace their litterbug personality and be the nation’s largest employer of janitors. Jersey City could be known as Janitor City. It could be a place to nurture those children who yearn to be janitors when they grow up. They could have a janitor university, a theme park with rides, and even restaurants with the waitresses dressed up as maids and what not.
All kidding aside, this place really does need a large crew of janitorial staff. One may argue that there may not be money in the budget for it but one may not have just trudged through popsicle wrappers and cigarette butts just to get home.
Yes, I am making a criticism of this city. I make no apologies. Why? Because this city is strikingly beautiful beneath all that trash. There are so many gorgeous houses and historic buildings. There’s a sprawling waterfront. There’s interesting eateries and attractive parks. I’d like to experience this city fully, with respect. I’d love to see it sparkle like it should.
