South Side: Represent

Before my wife and I ever agreed to get married we had one major obstacle to climb. I am a born and bred south sider. I love the south side with every ounce of my being. Sure, I am a Cub fan but, that was simply because I was raised as one. Everything else about me is south side. My wife was a city girl, a north side city girl to be exact.

Since we meet at work in the beginning it caused a little bit of a problem in that we lived so far away from each other. Joyce caught me at a bad time. I had just gotten back to the south side after living for a year in the Northwest suburbs. I was as happy as Tipper Gore at a NWA concert to be there. I hated it and was miserable. I learned something about myself in that time. I am a curmudgeon. I need to be by things and people that are familiar. I was always longing for a Dukes beef or a beer at B.J. McMahon’s the entire time I lived away from my roots.

Joyce grew up in the city. She had rarely been south of Madison in her life and it was quite a culture shock to come to my house. The thought of moving to the 'burbs was not really appealing to her. However, I know myself and I knew that I would never be happy being away from my area again. I basically had to let her know love me, love the southwest suburbs. It would be the biggest obstacle in our relationship but eventually over time she gave in and became a suburbanite.

That is not to say she doesn’t still miss the city. For taking her away from her roots, she has a lifetime of playing the, I moved for you card. I am powerless against her argument. Deep down though, she may not readily admit it, but she has grown to like the area. I mean I know I am a catch and all but, I am not that handsome where she would move to a place she hated just to be with my Italian ass.

Sure, the south side has its issues. It is in no way a perfect place to live. She has some points when she mentions our lack of Asian restaurants or how public transportation is a joke around us. Also, there are a still a lot of mullets still walking around the area. All of that is true. However, the advantages are plenty. We are not so far away from the city that we are in the sticks. I can get to downtown in fifteen to twenty minutes with no traffic on the Stevenson. We have parking at all of our stores and when you want to make a left we have these things called turning lanes. And, while we have a lot of mullets we don’t have as many yuppies.

I guess the point of it all is that one part of the city is not really any better than the other. It is all relative. I just love the South side because that is where I am from. Just as Joyce loves the city because that is what is familiar to her. I guess it is a little easier for me in that I work downtown so I get the best of both worlds. I get the city life during the day and then I can retire to the peacefulness of the ‘burbs when I go home.

Being a south-sider I have that chip on my shoulder attitude when I defend it like all of us do. We have a huge inferiority complex for whatever reason. I think it stems from being perceived as blue color, not hip or whatever. I am proud of those blue color roots. We have a work ethic on the south-side that has been inbred in all of us. Most of our families come from plumbers, electricians, truck drivers, phone repairmen or some other tradesmen. We are the glue to society. Not that there isn’t value to white color jobs but the great thing about being a blue color worker is you can see direct results from your work. When you snake a drain and unclog it there is a sense of accomplishment. Trust me after some lame ass team meeting you don’t get that feeling.

So, slowly I am turning my wife into a south-sider. I am sure I will never fully get that city blood out of her, and that is OK. I feel in love with her being a city girl and I would never want her to change that mentality. I don’t want this to come out as some anti-north side rant. However, I am proud of my south side heritage, and I know deep down that we have nothing to feel inferior about.