Jersey vs. Jersey Shore

It was December of 2009 when MTV premiered its new reality show Jersey Shore which takes place in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Currently, the show is on its 3^rd season and more popular than ever. Everywhere people are sitting down to see what the crazy cast will do next. This phenomenon has not only captured the attention of a large audience but it has also gives those who are not from New Jersey false notions about those who are.

Being from New Jersey myself, I have found how influential the show can be. It seems that not many people realize there is more to New Jersey then just what they see on Jersey Shore. There are those out there who think that because they do it on the show it means that everyone from Jersey must do it.

I had a personal experience with this while visiting a friend’s house in Pennsylvania. I was speaking with someone he was friendly with and the conversation took a turn for the worse when someone asked where I was from and I said New Jersey. She got extremely excited and asked “Like the Jersey shore? Do you fist pump?” I was amazed that these were the first words out of her mouth. I told her that I was from Northern New Jersey which is about 2 hours away from Seaside Heights. She seemed disappointed and the conversation stopped.

The point of this article is not to “bash” MTV’s hit Jersey Shore, but to inform everyone that what happens on the show does not reflect all of New Jersey. I can truthfully say that I do not fist pump and I don’t only GTL (Gym, Tan, and Laundry). It is true that sometimes I wear my hair in a poof, but it is a small similarity that keeps my bangs out of my face. I wear shoes not slippers all over the place.

I am personally not fond of the show and I know of many other people from Jersey who feel the same way. Honestly, my personal opinion about someone when they ask if I am from the “Jersey Shore” is that they have their head stuck in the sand (so to speak). Just because the show takes place in New Jersey doesn’t mean that if someone is from Jersey they are from Seaside Heights. There is more to Jersey than that.

In all honesty and in my opinion if you think that everyone from New Jersey is from Seaside Heights you better think again. The next time someone tells you that they are from New Jersey please don’t jump to conclusions and think that they are from the Jersey Shore or have any affiliation to it, because as a “New Jersian” I personally find it irritating and will not continue a conversation about knowing The Situation or the other cast members. I am from New Jersey not the Jersey Shore, they are two different places and MTV’s reality show in no way represents New Jersey as a whole.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_locations_by_per_capita_income