I've been living in Dallas, ok- lets be clear I'm living in Plano, since the end of May for a 12 week summer internship. Let me tell you a little something about Plano. If you aren't married and with child(ren) OR a cougar on the prowl for your second chance at love, you don't fit in. Don't get me wrong, if it was 15 years from now it would probably be a great place to set up shop and raise a family, but, for a 22 year old its straight boring. I'm sure you are thinking "well Plano is really just a Dallas suburb. Why not take the 30 minute drive into the city and hang out there?" Well, you will be pleased to know that I have done just that quite a few times since I have been here. I have ventured out into the "metroplex" to seek out museums, hipster communities, strolls through downtown and this place they call "uptown." For the typical college or 20-something-year-old "Uptown" would be the ideal hangout spot Thursday through Saturday. However, for this 22 year old uptown was less than appealing, and not just because I don't drink alcohol.
Uptown was filled to the core with SMUers (smewers) aka SMU greek-life goers, I-THINK-I'm-really-rich-and-my-shit-don't-stink people, Ed Hardy wearing boys, and over intoxicated hot-mess girls trying to convince some douche to take them home. Ok, maybe that was too harsh.. But, who cares. Don't like it? Click the red X. Needless to say the bars were all the same, the people were all the same and I wasn't entertained. But, I stuck it out for the sake of my friends. After being here 10 weeks I realized that not only was uptown inundated with these SMUers the entire metroplex and surrounding suburbs was filled with these folks. These individuals I came to name the "$50,000-millionaire" I got this quaint little nickname from some annoying dude at my apartment pool who took it upon himself to explain to me his take on Dallasites.
Dallas just isn't that interesting to me. It is inundated with commercialized chain restaurants on every corner and there just isn't much history or culture to the place. However, there is one aspect to Dallas that I do admire. Shopping. Fact: Dallas has the most shopping malls per capita than any other city in the country. Look it up, its true. Needless to stay I have done a bit of shopping since I've been here, but, even for a shopaholic like myself, shopping does get old.
Despite the fact that I find Dallas to be dull. I have had an incredible experience at my internship. As each week goes by I can honestly say that I learn something new and get to experience something extremely unique. The company as a whole is wonderful, the culture is great, the people I get to learn from are seasoned and experience but still real, and to top it off I know that I have grown intellectually and as a person. So, even though I haven't been entertained with Dallas and didn't find my niche here I definitely found a wonderful experience at this internship and had a wonderful learning experience. So, if the wind does blow me back here to start a career (scary) I guess I will have to get over this dislike for Dallas.But until that happens.. I don't think I'll be changing my opinion. Dallas- I have two or three weeks left with you so lets make them quick and painless. Ciao.
Note: The reason I dislike Dallas as a city has nothing to do with the fact that I am a Houstonian. I think that notion of "Dallas people hate Houston and Houston people hate Dallas" is pretty stupid. Don't get me wrong, I hate the Cowboys and always will, but, that has nothing to do with the reason I don't like Dallas as a city.
