One thing I realized on this trip is the depths to which I revile New Jersey, the New Jersey turnpike, and the Garden State Parkway. Do you know how much the GSP costs these days? A dollar. A dollar! When we lived there, the tolls were $0.35. I recall, vividly, the tokens I used to buy for my wretched commute from Bloomfield to Madison* (two towns so socioeconomically opposite that it should require a passport to travel from one to the next). I had finally resigned myself to the commute and daily road rage and bought a roll of tokens, only to have them stolen from my car by the garage where I had my brakes fixed. Just the memory of the silver outer ring with its facetious "golden" center makes my blood boil with unpunished injustice. Some other memories from our New Jersey year:
-I was in three car accidents in one month.
-The guy in the unit next to us threatened to beat the snot out of My Beloved.
-I was flashed in our apartment parking lot.
-A student(s) threw a bomb into My Beloved's classroom.
As My Beloved points out every time we make the crossing, New Jersey only charges on the outbound bridge lanes. The message being it's free to come in but you have to pay to escape. A colleague's young son calls the recirculation button on the A/C in the car the "New Jersey Button." If you've ever been through northern NJ, you'll agree it is an apt moniker.
New Jerseyians, however, are, I'm sure, a fine people. Some of my closest friends are from New Jersey :)
*corrected. I never worked in Marlton as originally stated (where, indeed, our oldest and bestest friends live) but in Madison. See posts on Memory.
Sometimes I miss Pennsylvania but I never miss NJ : )
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