You're a growing little bud in your mother's belly. The excitement for life and all it has to offer is building within you. Oh my god. It's time. You're entering life! It's happening! Wait, why does it smell like cows? Why did all your hope for cultural enlightenment shrivel up and die on the spot? You my friend...were born in Modesto.
Backed by a Forbes rating (No. 4 most miserable city in the United States in 2011), teens and young adults would describe living in Modesto as dry and lacking excitement. Why you may ask? Here are just a couple of devastating reasons:
1. There's nothing to do but eat.
You're in a group chat with your friends and you're all trying to decide something new to do. Finally, in the end, you guys yet again decide to just go out and eat. Hey, we may have good Mexican food, but that's not too bueno on the wallet when that's your main form of entertainment.
2. People date just to pass the time.
If you're from Modesto you and/or all your friends are in a long term relationship, just got into one, or are on the hunt for a new one. You can't really survive socially without one because all your friends will always be doubling up and referring to you as the "single friend."
3. The population is suffocatingly conservative.
It's fine to be conservative. It's fine to be religious. It's fine to have a firm set of morals. Unfortunately, a large majority of people in Modesto fail to realize it's not fine to judge and condemn those with different ideals. Separating itself from California's warm, accepting stereotype, Modesto is not a place that appreciates individuality.
4. You lose all your friends to teen pregnancy.
Life gets busy. You don't always have time for your friends as you grow older. Unfortunately for a lot of teens and young adults in this town you have to say bye to your friends at an earlier age in order to stay home and take care of your kid(s).
5. Cultural Standstill
This is not the town you want to be in if you want to grow as an individual. You want to learn through experiences how to be, feel, think, and believe. Modesto is not the place for this. Different cultures are looked down upon. Unique personalities are shunned. Variety is avoided. Staying here is like keeping yourself in a little box instead of letting yourself soar into the sky.
Overall, it's not the greatest place to raise or be raised, it's easy to get fat from doing lunch and dinner dates all the time, and it's hard to be independent, alone, and yourself without being looked down on. BUT on the bright side, just because it's been home doesn't mean it always has to be home.
