Can't we all just get along?

I take public transportation to and from work every day. It's about an hour and a half commute, which provides plenty of time for one of my favorite activities: People Watching.

I first developed my hobby when I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain and let me tell you, crazy NYC street fashion has NOTHING on those Spaniards. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that the number one fashion trend at the time (this was only 2 years ago, mind you) was MC Hammer pants. I'm sure they had another name, but they were basically this:

via Chicagonow.com

Of course, there were different colors, fabrics and patterns. We're talking everything from snake print to denim here, folks. I'm sure there was some reason that they were popular but I was too busy eating tortilla and croquetas to notice.

That being said, back in America there is some crazy fashion (especially in NYC), but the trains and PATH aren't as exciting as I'd hoped. So I eavesdrop.

Don't look at me like that. You do it, too. And if someone doesn't want me hearing their conversation, then maybe they should wait until they are in a private space to have it.

Anyway, the point. This morning I overheard a girl talking about a Pokemon/Baptist camp she went on (both subjects were covered on the 20 minute PATH ride so I'm going to assume it was a combination). Apparently on the bus she took, in addition to gospel songs and trading cards, there was a conversation about the accents of the different people on the bus. This girl, who talked like I do and thus does not have an accent, was apparently the only one from NJ/NY/The northeastern US/anywhere that has television because she described how everyone kept asking her why she "talked so weird." When she explained that she was from New Jersey, they were shocked because she was... well normal I guess.

This girl explained at length how shocked these obvious aliens were. I'm going to guess all of their information came from that show, you know the one that I'm talking about. Apparently they asked her a bajillion questions (she was like 15) about New Jersey like it was a separate country. Seriously, people? New Jersey. It's a state. One of the original 13 colonies. Home to Thomas Edison and Woodrow Wilson and Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi. Not to mention Anne Hathaway, Queen Latifah and (for a brief amount of time) Mr. T. Queen Latifah, The Boss and Mr. T would not put up with Jersey Shore-like nonsense flooding the state like a contagious and incurable disease.

As I was playing this rant out in my head, I realized the conversation switched to the correct pronunciation of Pokemon and I wanted to slap her for the 10 remaining minutes on the train. At that point I remembered that the group on the bus were at a Pokemon camp and Pokemon's popularity died out with the Beanie Babies. And eventually the Jersey bashing will die out, too.

What an adorable pile of worthless toys!