I attended last Saturday's Go Green in the City, where I ran into 15 of my friends inadvertently.
I went to last Saturday’s “Go Green in the City” on a whim. I felt tired, sick and my allergies were acting up. I finally decided to get out of the house because maybe a bit of sunshine would do me good. My boyfriend and I trotted down the three blocks to Beaver Street and wandered first into Central Market.
I walked five feet when I ran into a friend who had recently moved to Pottstown. She was back visiting our group of friends. Two minutes later, I ran into the four she was visiting. Together, we left the market to go check out the Beaver Street band. It was there we ran into 4 more friends. We saw another 2 running a booth for their business, The Parliament. I turned around and saw an old friend I haven’t seen in 8 months.
My boyfriend and I left our apartment to check out the scene. We didn’t tell anyone to meet up with us; we didn’t even plan on going. And still, we ended up running into 15 people we knew. While Go Green in the City has certainly gained more attendees since its inception, it certainly isn’t The York Fair where you’re guaranteed to run into everyone you have EVER known in York. This confirmed it for me: York is the littlest big town.
I lived in Ireland for a year and for the first few weeks, when I was asked “Where are you from?” “Pennsyltucky” was my automatic answer. After I kept getting, “Oh, I’ve never heard of that state,” I realized my American humor was limited to our side of the Atlantic.
I explained far more than once how York is a fun little mixing bowl of a city with its fine interchange of city/suburb/farm every three miles and very much utilizing the 2nd Amendment. I explained we’re all curious to know who grows the biggest pumpkin at the York Fair and sometimes, we rode tractors around our neighborhoods. Surprisingly, I found out small town Irish kids did the same (minus the guns. They were more concerned about their right to libations.)
When I found out a good friend of mine I met in Ireland was studying abroad in Virginia, I invited her up to good ole’ Keystone State so she could see how REAL Americans live. You know, we did the important things: went to a shooting range, ate Brown’s Caramel Apple pie, played games meant for children at Bogey Macaws. In showing her the slightly redneck small hometown pride, I realized that we kind of have it made in York.
We share a weird conglomeration of small hometown life but still have elements of a modern city. We get the luxury of nightlife (limited, but it’s there) while we can still drive to the farm for the day. We have good ole’ comfort food while still having options of 4 and 5 star dining. We have small, modest festivals and then crowd-drawing parades and fairs. York is the littlest big town and I meant what I said last week: I’m a townie and proud of it.
