Posted by Dictionary.com defines provincialism as, “the condition of being provincial – limited in perspective, narrow and self-centered; lack of sophistication or perspective.” More than most folks, I feel I have a handle on the dangers of provincialism because I see the extreme cases in some of my friends. Having lived in Pittsburgh for so long, I know I need to guard against the same pitfalls – the Pittsburgh Trap, we call it (just don’t mess with my Stillers).
But the oddity here is that I feel as though many educated Pittsburghers aren’t as likely to be so provincial and narrow-minded as those from the so-called “cooler” cities – NYC, for example. Those of us who went to Pitt or Pennstate were inundated by Philly and DC people. If we didn’t know it already, we quickly realised that there was a world beyond the Cradle of Quarterbacks. So we took roadtrips to Philly or DC, Chicago or NYC. I have friends who went out to LA for work, did Semester at Sea or studied abroad in Paris.
I myself never went more than a couple months without cabin fever setting in, the need to see some place else forcing me to drain my modest savings, no matter the parents decrying my roadtrips as irresponsible and a plague on my studies… Pitt/PSU football at State College, a trip to UVA, Bhangra Blowout or Raas Chaos in DC, Halloweens in Philly, a desi party at NYU, a spring break spent Simi in SF or doing community service at Gila National Forest high in the mountains of New Mexico, six hours from Albuquerque.
Now I travel for a living and I find that the people who are most provincial, who are most in “awe” of the suitcase lifestyle I lead are those “cosmopolitan” New Yorkers, not the small-town Pittsburghers I grew up or went to college with. And what advantages does a big-city kid have if he or she doesn’t actually make use of living in the big city? None, I say. Ask most New Yorkers how many times a month they eat at one of the city’s thousands of exotic restaurants, go to MoMA, dress up for the symphony or theatre or ballet. Their answer won’t be much different from the Pittsburgher’s and will almost certainly be less exciting than the one I’m likely to give although I only spend3 1/2 days out of the week in NYC. Substitute New Yorker for Los Angeleno or Atlantan or Chicagoan if you want and the same probably holds true.
But it’s the ambience they cry back at me! You can’t break the big city life down to just activities, it’s the very air we breathe! I can’t? Ok maybe you’re right; the ambience of watching Law & Order at night in Pittsburgh is quite different from the one you experience in NYC at the same time doing the same thing. Actually I have a 56″ HDTV and a 700-watt cd/dvd entertainment system so kiss my grits!
I hate provincialism! “Ami provincialism grinha kori!” Oh my god, it’s the most unattractive quality a person can ever have… especially for a immigrant child! Our parents spend their lives away from home, travelling and seeing the world and then their kids get tied down to one area? “what’s that I didn’t hear you… shut the f*ck up!”
I was 10 & 11 yrs old when my sisters left home and I knew they’d never come back, not simply because UPenn & JHU were better environments for them but because it was my understanding that when you were just old enough, you did what you could to get out of the house and stay out! I didn’t complain and cry and wail; that’s how it’s supposed to be, I thought. I was a little sad when my friends Sameem and Aziz and then Tohfa left Pittsburgh for college but I was more happy for them because (and let’s reiterate, it’s not just because we come from a small big city like Pittsburgh) that’s just how it’s supposed to be.
It may seem hypocritic for me to preach since I returned home after the KC experience but I did so because it makes good financial sense right now. Most days, it’s everything I can do not to yield to temptation and move back to DC and blow my finances away living that seductively cosmopolitan and materialistic lifestyle that has always drawn me to our Nation’s Capitol! But I can still stay the course because I feel that this house puts me in position to live that DC life properly if only I’m patient now.
