It seems that the worst is behind us now. The worst being the dreaded weather that makes this region of the country feel like hell on Earth. It is during that scorching summer time when people are seemingly ten times more irritable than normal and sedentary becomes our collective middle name. Now that I'm able to move around more freely than before, I'll saddle you with what should be the last of my irritability for the season.
It should come as no surprise that it is during this season that I often hear many negative things about the state I have called home for all my life. A state that has so much to offer during all of its twelve months really shines in the six or so months ahead of us when it is not considered a suicidal action to walk out of your home or apartment to finally soak in your surroundings for the first time since moving here.
We take our lumps during the summer because it's often hot enough to cook our food outdoors without the use of a conventional grill. You know the times I'm talking about, when you can't put your seat belt on for the first fifteen minutes of driving because of the potential for severe burns to your skin.
Not only do Arizonans take it on the chin for the weather, we often get a bad rap for many other things as well. This is after all a state where natives like myself are somewhat hard to come by so it's not that uncommon to hear negative things by "Arizonans" on a regular basis.
We get knocked for evidently not having the same kind of cultural events that they have in other places. We get knocked for supposedly not providing enough money for the education of our schoolchildren. We get knocked for bad traffic and lastly, we get knocked for loving democracy so much that we'll load up the ballot with around 15-20 propositions per election cycle.
To those of you who complain about how things are over here and how things were so much better in the place you're from, get over it or go back to your home that is obviously better than the place I love. I've often written in this paper that I would like to see fencing constructed on our border with Mexico but I often wonder if we should just fence off all sides of this great place from you complainers from other states.
We're a unique bunch over here and we try to take it all in stride and not only do we take it in stride, we give back the country as a whole. After all, the federal government made us give Clark County, formerly Pah-Ute County or Arizona's "Lost County", to Nevada and that in turn gave the world Las Vegas. I doubt many other states have made a contribution like that and I'm still waiting for a thank you from my Nevada friends for that forced gift and I'll continue to mispronounce their state's name until I get it.
A little respect to this great corner of the world would be nice from you people (looking mainly at the Californians and New Englanders who think they're so much better than everybody else.) I hope you'll get to know what every native knows about this state and how awesome it really is.
It's amazing how much better I feel now and how ready I am to enjoy life without the necessity of re-applying deodorant numerous times a day. Step outside and enjoy it because come May, you'll be wondering what happened to it.
T.J. Shope is a Political Science senior and can be reached before and after Chicago Cubs games at: tjshope@hotmail.com.
