The Jersey Shore (a local's perspective)

Four years ago, when I first heard that a new how was coming to MTV that was all about my home, I was psyched. Finally! People could see how cool the Jersey Shore was, and why I loved it so much. It was my home, really, the only place I knew. I wouldn't change a thing about the Shore, except of course, the reality show that destroyed it.

Jersey Shore glorifies New Jersey in all the wrong ways. Our beaches are beautiful, the sand is hot, and nothing is better than swimming in the ocean. The show forgets all that. It focuses on the night life, and thats it. We watch as a bunch of twenty-somethings go down in flames and make thousands of dollars doing it. It horrifies me when I find someone who thinks that's where I grew up. With a bunch of orange phony italians who have zero life goals.

When I realized the show was about a bunch of wannabe Italians who were planning on partying on my beaches, I was just as annoyed as every other local. The boardwalk was never a place to party, it was a place to waste time when you were bored, or as I got older, an easy job. While I never worked on the Boardwalks or the beaches (I waited tables by the Docks) a lot of my friends did. I never even noticed the "Guidos" or the "Guidettes." Their population was minimal, they were never on my radar. Not until the summer of 2010.

All of the sudden, I couldn't drive down the highway without seeing a truck of them. These new breed of Bennys (slang for tourists), were taking over. They'd clog up the roads on friday night, and monday morning, in an attempt to to rush home. They'd mob the beaches on saturdays, and the boardwalks on sundays. It was an italian take over down the Shore. These people were all Snooki and Ronnie wannabes. Gone were the kids and families that took day trips to visit my beautiful home, and here were the phony alcoholics looking to trash it.

What I remember

The show's influence over the Shore is prevalent. The boardwalk, which used to be all corny carnival games and cheap Lifeguard sweatshirts, became a Little Italy. Meatballs and spaghetti were sold from the vendors; I had grown up with Kettle corn, and funnel cake. If you were smart enough to convince your parents to take you on a thursday night, there would be Fried Oreos. Tee shirts are now bedazzled with phrases like "Show me your Situation!" or "lil Meatball." The beaches are covered with orange people who can't really enjoy the beach, because natural tanning takes to long. The beach I knew, has become a territory for pretty much everyone but a local.

Funtown Pier was a place you only spent a few hours at. The place never changes, but in a way, I never want it to change. Funtown Pier is kinda stuck in the 1930's, with cheap carnival tricks and the best snow cones on earth. You never played the games, unless on of your friends was running it. Most of those games were cons, trying to get the annoying city kids to leave faster. Nothing is worse than when a Benny hits on one of your friends. That old "Jersey Girls are easy" stereotypes only comes from the girls who didn't grow up on the beach. A real Jersey girl will clock any jerk, then become best friends with his mother.

Sandy Hook Light House

When it comes to the beach, no one really knows it like a shore kid. I'm from Monmouth county, which is the most north of the Shore towns. I love in Middletown, very close to Sandy Hook National Park. Sandy Hook is definitely were I spent the majority of my summers when I was younger. We'd clamor into my aunts, mom's or neighbors car, and we drive the ten minutes to the beach. It was nice, we knew half the lifeguards, who always let us through for free. As I got older, I started noticing the prevalent Bennys. What irked me the most was when they'd say things like "the sand is disgusting!" or "there is so much seaweed!" I'm not really sure if they knew what they were getting into, but when you go to a beach, there tends to be an ocean and sand. As  I got older, I started going to what we called "the free beach." The property is owned by a church, and it's hidden amongst a bunch of beach houses with private beaches. Anybody on that strip is totally local, which makes it a hundred times better. No one dumps their trash, no one blasts music, no one has umbrellas (a clear sign you're either over thirty or out of state.) We respect the beach and each other.  

Nothing really aggravates me more then when people begin to trash Jersey, especially the Shore. If they only knew the place I know. A home, with a beach nearby and the mountains are within a reasonable drive. A place where Philadelphia and New York City are a train ride away. An area filled with second and third generation Americans, whose families went through Ellis Island and their names can be found on the iconic wall. A region that honors 9/11 with just as much gusto as the city itself, for we lost the most residents that day, after NYC. I was blessed to live the life I have, in a place so beautiful and real. People need to see this, the real side of New Jersey.