Last week, we went to the Jersey Shore for our summer vacation.
For some reason, the beach house in which we stayed seemed to impede my 3G connection, so even though I knew I wouldn’t have WiFi, I had assumed that I would still be able to update the blog from my phone.
I was wrong.
So, sorry for the week long hiatus.
For our family, the Jersey Shore isn’t a vacation that was inspired by the MTV show.
I’ve been coming to the Jersey Shore since I was 3, and I believe Real Man and his family have been coming just as long.
We stay in Ortley Beach, which is the next beach over from Seaside Heights, the setting for the original season of “Jersey Shore.”
One night a week, we hit the boardwalk at Seaside, and the kids ride rides and play games and exhaust themselves.
The street we stay on leads to Joey Harrison’s surf club and we’ve always enjoyed watching the parade of ridiculously dressed teens on their way to Teen Night.
However, it seems as though our family oriented little beach town has changed, and not for the good.
The show, “Jersey Shore,” was truly a characterization of some of the people that we’d see while on vacation every year. Yes, there were some people who dressed, spoke, and acted the way that Snooki and the crew did, but they weren’t necessarily the majority.
True, this is Jersey, yo, and we’ve got the guidos and guidettes galore, and the boardwalk has always sold the “#1 Italian Bitch” t-shirt, but these past two years, it seems as though Seaside, and unfortunately, Ortley, are trying to embrace the “Jersey Shore” characterization.
While most people who live in Jersey cringe when we hear that people think that NJ is like what is portrayed on the show, it now seems that these two towns are enhancing that image…trying to live up to the types of people and experiences that made them famous.
As I type, yesterday was July 3rd and Joey Harrison’s was packed. People were waiting in line to get in and the people were bursting out the seams, spilling out onto the beach. The bass was thumping so loud and my in-laws and I cringed as the DJ shouted out “Hey all you f’ing people! You like this f’ing music? Let’s get this f’ing party started!”
Really? When did that become appropriate?
I admit, I love a good show, and we’re definitely getting that this year. Standing in front of Real Man’s aunts cottage last night, we saw the parade as they made their way to Joey’s. Short shorts that can’t even be categorized as clothing, paired with stilettos so high, we called them “Eiffel Tower shoes.” Shirts that left nothing to the imagination, and men who thought their oily, brown-tanned chests shouldn’t be covered by shirts at all.
We mothers, in the family, take it as an opportunity to teach our daughters what is and is not acceptable to wear, and they nod and shake their heads and even throw out a few “What the heck is she wearing’s?” as the parade walks by.
I’m by no means a prude, and as I said, it is a good time. And, maybe if I had those bodies I’d be wearing those outfits as well, but my guess is probably not.
But, I’m cautious about getting too wrapped up in the “show” that I don’t miss the fact that what was once a great place to bring a family is becoming a place where we need to cover their ears and avert their eyes. I’m all about letting kids experience and learn from that experience, but at the same time, there’s only so much a 5 year old can see, take in, process, and make meaning from.
So, for now, we continue to watch the show and hope that “The Show” hasn’t completely ruined Ortley for good. We hope that, perhaps, this too shall pass. And, maybe now that “Jersey Shore” has moved to Italy for last season, maybe Roma can take its fair share of the Snooki-ites, because I think we’re full up, ova heah.
