There are too many reasons that getting on a plane and flying home sucks. Usually its the knowledge that vacation is over and workdays loom in the near future. Or the barefooted, belt-less rite of passage through the metal detector before the opening of the packed carrying and the tossing of the folded clothes. All of those took a toll on me today on the way home from Chicago, along with a weird nostalgia I don't often get.
Quarter life crises are usually reserved for birthdays, friends' engagements, or massive failures, but I just couldn't help but think bigger on my flight from Chicago to DC today. Here's the thing, Chicago is awesome. I mean like really a great city. So in the window seat of row 16 before takeoff at O'Hare this afternoon, my thought process went something like this: Chicago is great... Chicago has to be one of the best cities in the US... Chicago is better than DC... Why should I live in DC if it isn't as good as Chicago?
And there it was, the question that pained me until it my pensiveness was interrupted by the dumb-ass in front of me reclining his seat as far back as the cartilage in my knees would allow, leaving me with two numb knees and one mind-numbing question.
What is keeping me in Washington? Of my six closest college friends, all six have left the District and its vicinity. The last two left this summer; maybe its a time for changing scenes. We are young and still have fairly loose ties to our cities. For me its more sentimental than physical baggage in Washington. What do I have here really? A place near a Whole Foods, a pu-pu platter of friends (in the sense that its a good mix, not that they smell), and a reputation for drinking on rooftops before enjoying jumbo slice... (which is an embarrasment compared to Chicago's pizzas)
The best thing about Washington is they city itself. DC's practically unlimited public spaces and opportunities embedded within it may be only dwarfed by those of Chicago (as a disclaimer I was just in Chicago for five days with my parents so I didn't spend much money, we had great weather, and was unrestricted by a daily work schedule). However the nightlife, the city's accessibility, the general Midwestern eccentricities are hard to imagine ever being anything but lovable. Wrigley Field, the bi-weekly Navy Pier fireworks, and Lake Michigan are things other
cities cannot come close to offering (and I didn't even mind watching TV an hour earlier than normal).
In terms of girls, I have found finding a suitable girl in DC as easy as finding a Chinese gymnast's birth certificate; I'm sure both exist, it just takes a lot of work to unearth a good one. Let's just say of the last couple serious threats at bachelorhood from within DC's borders, I have spent more man-hours trying to find ways to avoid running into them after the fact, than I ever spent appreciating them. From my limited, weekend-long sample size of Chicago's female species, I posit that they seem to be worth relocating for. And from the guy who wishes he brought you the notion that girls in Red Sox caps are cute, wait til you see girls in Cubs jerseys... (that link wasn't fair...)
However there is a but, and its a but so big that Sir Mix-a-Lot wants in on it. In terms of my visits to Chicago, I've been twice, been smitten twice, and never dealt with the thing people say is the worst aspect of Chicago... survey says: WINTER (the overwhelming number one answer). I don't think I could really deal with the cold.
I hated living in Boston from after Halloween until the after the first month of Red Sox games. I even complain about DC's PG-13 winters; basically I am ill-equipped to deal with anything that requires more than a NorthFace and cords. I am a winter pussy and am comfortable knowing
that it will likely keep me south of the Mason-Dixon line forever.
Climate isn't the only thing though keeping my roots in the National's Capital. Truth is that I love my job and currently have the strongest loyalty to it. I couldn't imagine leaving my job. In some ways it feels like my DC family, in others my DC social network, but mostly my DC love.
I ended up sleeping off my Midwestern-biased grogginess on the flight and resigned myself to the fact that I will likely vote for the next couple presidential elections from the District. And its not a bad thing. I'm starting my seventh straight year in DC and feeling more in control of my destiny than ever, which might be more of a convincing statement if I could just get that Frank Sinatra song out of my head.
Quarter life crises are usually reserved for birthdays, friends' engagements, or massive failures, but I just couldn't help but think bigger on my flight from Chicago to DC today. Here's the thing, Chicago is awesome. I mean like really a great city. So in the window seat of row 16 before takeoff at O'Hare this afternoon, my thought process went something like this: Chicago is great... Chicago has to be one of the best cities in the US... Chicago is better than DC... Why should I live in DC if it isn't as good as Chicago?
And there it was, the question that pained me until it my pensiveness was interrupted by the dumb-ass in front of me reclining his seat as far back as the cartilage in my knees would allow, leaving me with two numb knees and one mind-numbing question.
What is keeping me in Washington? Of my six closest college friends, all six have left the District and its vicinity. The last two left this summer; maybe its a time for changing scenes. We are young and still have fairly loose ties to our cities. For me its more sentimental than physical baggage in Washington. What do I have here really? A place near a Whole Foods, a pu-pu platter of friends (in the sense that its a good mix, not that they smell), and a reputation for drinking on rooftops before enjoying jumbo slice... (which is an embarrasment compared to Chicago's pizzas)
The best thing about Washington is they city itself. DC's practically unlimited public spaces and opportunities embedded within it may be only dwarfed by those of Chicago (as a disclaimer I was just in Chicago for five days with my parents so I didn't spend much money, we had great weather, and was unrestricted by a daily work schedule). However the nightlife, the city's accessibility, the general Midwestern eccentricities are hard to imagine ever being anything but lovable. Wrigley Field, the bi-weekly Navy Pier fireworks, and Lake Michigan are things other
cities cannot come close to offering (and I didn't even mind watching TV an hour earlier than normal).In terms of girls, I have found finding a suitable girl in DC as easy as finding a Chinese gymnast's birth certificate; I'm sure both exist, it just takes a lot of work to unearth a good one. Let's just say of the last couple serious threats at bachelorhood from within DC's borders, I have spent more man-hours trying to find ways to avoid running into them after the fact, than I ever spent appreciating them. From my limited, weekend-long sample size of Chicago's female species, I posit that they seem to be worth relocating for. And from the guy who wishes he brought you the notion that girls in Red Sox caps are cute, wait til you see girls in Cubs jerseys... (that link wasn't fair...)
However there is a but, and its a but so big that Sir Mix-a-Lot wants in on it. In terms of my visits to Chicago, I've been twice, been smitten twice, and never dealt with the thing people say is the worst aspect of Chicago... survey says: WINTER (the overwhelming number one answer). I don't think I could really deal with the cold.
I hated living in Boston from after Halloween until the after the first month of Red Sox games. I even complain about DC's PG-13 winters; basically I am ill-equipped to deal with anything that requires more than a NorthFace and cords. I am a winter pussy and am comfortable knowing
that it will likely keep me south of the Mason-Dixon line forever.Climate isn't the only thing though keeping my roots in the National's Capital. Truth is that I love my job and currently have the strongest loyalty to it. I couldn't imagine leaving my job. In some ways it feels like my DC family, in others my DC social network, but mostly my DC love.
I ended up sleeping off my Midwestern-biased grogginess on the flight and resigned myself to the fact that I will likely vote for the next couple presidential elections from the District. And its not a bad thing. I'm starting my seventh straight year in DC and feeling more in control of my destiny than ever, which might be more of a convincing statement if I could just get that Frank Sinatra song out of my head.
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