If you don't have anything nice to say, then just don't
Today’s zany holiday is one very near to the heart of many. It’s a week long celebration trying to help a rather maligned state. It’s Be Nice to New Jersey Week.
Yes, we’ve all heard the trash talk: arm pit of America, America’s dump, “Dirty Joisey,” etc, etc, etc and just generally a bad place. A lot of people make a lot of claims about New Jersey they fully believe to be "true" based on first-hand experience (meaning, they’ve driven on the Turnpike) but these are pretty exaggerated (and cliche). New Jersey’s a scrappy little state with a lot going for it: conveniently close to New York City, Philadelphia and the Shore (please don’t confuse this with the beach), one of the top states for public education, home to Frank Sinatra, Debbie Harry, Thomas Edison, Kevin Smith, Tony Soprano, Meryl Streep, the two surviving members of Run DMC, and who could forget the Boss, Bruce Springsteen; not to mention the place where about 8 million people are proud to live there, despite what out-of-staters say they know about New Jersey!
Celebrate unique holiday Be Nice to New Jersey Week by, well, being nice first off (also, by now many Jersey jokes are a bit tired)! If you can’t visit Jersey to experience her wonders firsthand (and beyond the Turnpike), celebrate in different ways. Bake a blueberry pie, pour yourself a frosty mug of Ballantine and drive with the panache attached to those who frequent the Garden State Parkway! See what you can learn about New Jersey’s History and interesting facts: The Battle of Trenton was a decisive fight during the American Revolution; New Jersey is 47th in size, 10th in population, and the most densely populated state per square mile; New Jersey was first to cultivate blueberries, which happens to the state fruit, in the United States (what now, Maine?); New Jersey has more diners than any other state total and per square mile (and you’ve never really been to a diner until you’ve been to a Jersey diner); the first official baseball game recorded was played in Hoboken; the state flower is the violet; state bird, the Goldfinch; the state tree, the Northern Red Oak; the state insect, the European Honey Bee; the state animal, the Horse; and the state Vegetable, the Tomato!
If there was ever a place where the saying “never judge a book by its cover” applies, it’s Jersey. Take a week off from bashing, and learn what New Jersey is really about. If you don’t believe, come see for yourself.
However, if you decide to ignore this zany holiday and keep up the hatred, enjoy pumping your own gas!
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