South Florida has grown faster than a weed. Roads that were once barren stretches of sugar sand and pine trees are now filled with pastel-colored stucco cookie-cutter shopping centers full of Starbucks and Home Depot and such places. I-95 through the eastern part of the city has grown from four lanes each direction to seven. Southern Boulevard now has overpasses. To understand how ridiculous this is, imagine War Memorial Drive having overpasses and offramps at Knoxville and University. Except Southern Blvd. isn’t even the busiest street in West Palm Beach.
Everywhere you look, zero lot line model-based homes and Mercedes and BMW’s.
My friends haven’t changed a bit. People I haven’t talked to in six years are still the exact same people I knew when I left, for better or for worse. Justin still thinks the world owes him something, is selfish, and has zero patience. He also does silly things like cleaning dishes with a garden hose and Rubbermaid tote. Kyle is still one of the nicest, most purely kind people I know. Nate still laughs a lot. Buck still doesn’t drink, and he’s still attracted to the same kind of women as me. This became an issue many years ago. Some even work at the same place they did when I left, which is saying a lot considering we were all 21 or 22 when I moved. Toni and Gary are still fun-loving, hospitable, wonderful people with a huge house they were kind enough to invite us into.
I came to several realizations during this most recent trip to Florida. Firstly, most of the people there are unbelievably rude. I don’t know if this is due to the overcrowding, the heat, the traffic, or the culture. Maybe it’s because I’ve grown used to the courtesy of the Midwest. We went to Wal-Mart whille we were there, and of the 5 people who almost ran my foot over with their cart, none of them said “Excuse me,” and a couple even sneered at me like it was MY fault they didn’t know how to operate a shopping cart.
Secondly, there doesn’t seem to be a saturation point when it comes to mini-malls, gas stations, and big box stores. Same goes for CVS. Sorry, Peorians. There’s always room for more franchises.
Finally, no matter how many palm trees, ornate green lightpoles and traffic signal hangers, pastel colors, bright blue glass and shiny new cars you put in a city, the people are still going to be what gives a place its heart. And the heart of West Palm Beach is a paper mache shell of money and stucco. The city I missed so much really isn’t what I remember it being. The weather’s still great, and there’s plenty to do (especially if you like Home Depot, Wal-Mart, CVS, and gas stations), but I’ll take Peoria’s character and courtesy. My friends seem to be the only nice people in the whole of Palm Beach county, which I guess should be a statement about the kind of person I can be when I’m not being shitty on purpose.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
