BACK TO "THE BOX"

“And he must needs go through Samaria.” (Gospel of John 4:4)

Yesterday, my daughter Rachel went back to school at Westfield State College.  She’s going to be twenty in just a few days and is a Sophomore.  Like her “old man” Rachel is unique.  She tends to be shy one-on-one, yet she can perform on the stage as well as any professional actress.  She’s an amazing artist, a good writer, and an astute observer of the world around her.  

Massachusetts has something like fourteen counties, but Rachel has it broken down much more definitively.  In Rachel’s imaginary atlas, Massachusetts is broken up into three parts:  The Cape, The Bay, and The Box.  Now, I realize Massachusetts technically has two Capes (and Rachel DOES love Rockport) but for the sake of giving the three areas names, it’s Cape Cod, Greater Boston along with Greater Worcester and virtually anything within their spheres of influence, AND the 413 area code which looks like a box on the map-hence “The Box”.

Westfield wasn’t Rachel’s first choice for a college.  She got into Savannah in Georgia, but was offered very little in the way of financial aid, so she opted for Westfield.  Rachel is really O.K. about Westfield State but she wishes it wasn’t in The Box.

I annoy Rachel because I like The Box.  (Maybe it’s also because I’m over fifty.)  Life is slower in The Box.  Natives of The Box do NOT have Boston accents, nor do they have typically northeastern accents.  They talk like they’re from Columbus, Ohio.  They also look and act like they’re from Columbus, Ohio.  They’re decidedly friendlier and calmer than Bostonians.  They definitely SEEM more midwestern than like New Englanders.  They drive better.  The big radio talk station in Springfield airs Christian commercials asking people if they’re sure of going to Heaven when they die, etc.  Can you imagine that on WRKO?! The big newspaper is The Springfield Republican.  None of the Boston television channels are available, except on certain cable systems.  Instead, all the major affiliates are either in Springfield, MA or Hartford, CT.  In fact, in Westfield, you’re closer to the New York state line than you are to downtown Boston.   The Box has towns such as Mount Washington, Otis, Florida, and Savoy.  There’s even a Belchertown!  People from The Box often feel trivialized and neglected by thosein eastern Massachusetts.  When I tell people from Framingham that Rachel goes to Westfield State and they say, “Oh, where’s that, in Connecticut?!” then I kind of know how they feel!

I doubt I’ll be able to afford to retire anywhere in Massachusetts- it’s just TOO expensive.  But if I did retire here in Massachusetts, it’s pretty likely it would be in the 413 area code.  Meanwhile, Rachel dislikes life in The Box.  Oh well...that’s life...