City Slicker

Maybe it's a weird thing that I have not put down 'roots' in this city I work in now. Not that I don't have a home. I am living very nicely with a sibling and family members.

This current living arrangement is about me living  with family members during my work days. During my off days and leave, I will usually be away in my hometown.

Since I was transfered again to this city almost a year ago, I have been living with a friend - for five months and then moved in with my sibling.

The moving to two different houses was due to work commitments- I try to stay considerably near to wherever I work.

Of course, this current arrangement can't be permanent, right? Well, nothing in life stays the same, if you think about it.

The 'roots' that you have in your hometown will not stay that way. Things can change. And one could be moving away due to death, marriage (or divorce), work or whatever reason.

I am a guy in my late 30s who is too attached to his hometown and the people who live there. It's so weird.

The other weird thing is how I kinda hate this city. It is not a severe feeling of hate- I am not blaming the city and its inhabitants. I love my family, friends and colleagues here. And I love the many delicious eating places and places to watch theatre and movies and humongous shopping malls (ok I hate those coz my mum will not want to walk around in huge malls because of her leg).
But...I kind of hate....this city for what it is. A melting pot of people, jobs, seat of government, centre of the universe, gathering ground for the country's best (maybe).
Most of all, I hate city foll who think that the rest of the country is just provincial ( read: rural) I hate to think that some city slickers think things like, "ooh, I cannot survive two days outside the big city."
I think like this possibly because I have experience living and working in small towns. I had lived in two small towns in the north for a period  of three and-a-half years. I had rented a house opposite a padi field. And I have lived in a state capital which had  no McDonald's  (Only Pizza Hut and KFC). Thankfully that state capital now has a lovely drive-thru McD.
Several years ago, after a trip to Bangkok, I declared that this city is not as cool as Bangkok. I really think a lot of other cities in Asean are way cooler. I mean, some American/Brit music acts go to Jakarta or Bangkok but bypass this city.
But still, I admit this city is good as it is familiar. I can speak in my language and dress whatever way I want and no one will bat an eyelid. It's my country and this is my big city, even if you don't want to admit it.
Green Acres was an old American TV sitcom about a couple from the city who moved to a farm. It was the husband's intention to seek greener pastures by buying a farm, but it pissed off his socialite wife who struggled to adapt to her new role in the countryside.

Comments

Popular Posts