The Real Jersey Shore

Waves rushing on to the shore with a chilly warm breeze and shining sun has always been a perfect way to welcome the warm weather in New Jersey. The massive boardwalk always greets whoever steps foot onto the wooden walkway. The smell of the ocean, fried foods, pizza, and fresh seafood moved toward my nose as I walked down the boardwalk.  The Jersey Shore has always been known for fried Oreos, pickles, ice cream, funnel cakes and fries. Seaside's food reminds me of my dad, since he helped me discover my two favorite shore tastes. Fried pickles have a bitter sour and browned taste from the bread covering over the forest green vegetable trying to hide from me. The sour pickle taste lingers on my lips once I first bite into it. Its acid flavor calms down my nerves with the power of my love for pickles. Fried Oreos have a sweet taste that liquefies into my throat as soon as it enters. The sweet taste of the Oreos helps the tickle of the sourness from the pickle disappear. Dippin' Dots always melt in my mouth and cool me off. The little dots, turned in my favorite ice cream form because I never tasted anything like it anywhere else. My flavors are normally Cookies N Cream, Rainbow, Mint Chocolate, and Bubble Gum.

           

Before the Jersey Shore, Seaside Heights was known as the boardwalk to go to during the summer. Everyone went to Seaside for the good food and fun for all ages. Kids enjoyed the carnival, like games and arcades. Teenagers liked the games too, but they're more into the rides on the boardwalk. People 21 or older appreciated the bar scene and games, but rarely became too crazy.    

MTV's Jersey Shore show changed everyone's opinion about people from Jersey and Seaside in general. The show gives people the idea that everyone from New Jersey is Italian American. The truth is New Jersey has very mixed ethic groups such as Russian, Polish, Irish, German, Spanish, African, Indians, Italian etc. Jersey people say that they are embarrassed by the way the cast members act, dress, and style their hair on television. The female cast members act as trashy as they can. For example, Deena and Snookie are 4'9 women who wear teeny dresses and make fools out of themselves whenever they go out.  The miniature dresses always show the girls' underwear and barely cover the ass. The male cast members act as jerky as they can to impress the girls. For example, Vinny slept with Snookie's best friend when she visited the shore house because he wanted to get back at Snookie for playing him the whole summer. Vinny also lied to Snookie and told her that he hadn't slept with her best friend at first, so she would sleep with him again.

 Nine years after my first visit with my parents, doctors diagnosed my dad with cancer. My father's sickness controlled my family during this time. My world twisted into every direction. I desired a place like Seaside to forget as much as I could during the summer. The breeze used to calm me down when my anxiety hit the bottom and started to affect my everyday life. I had to get away for a few hours with my two best friends. Lissa, Viki, and I would drive down almost everyday to forget about reality. I drove the three of us down in my 1995 two-door snow-colored Mustang. In traffic, my Mustang blasted PST 95.5 or Z100 with the windows down and the three of us singing along to Paramore, Breaking Benjamin, or A Day to Remember. Once we arrived, everything wrong in my life seemed to disappear into the waves and the sea salt smell of the ocean. When I got closer to the water, a grin would instantly show up on my face. Most of the time, I spotted the wooded boardwalk and ran toward it. I felt my pain fly out of me into the waves of the ocean.

Now, the drive to Seaside contains a longer trip with miles of traffic because everyone wants to see the Jersey Shore house and take pictures.  Some drivers even stick up a middle finger at anyone who cuts them off in traffic. The drive to Seaside feels like the drive around NYC because no one has any patience. The boardwalk is packed with the fake MTV image of Jersey, unnatural tans and unacceptable outfits. Every line is way too long and not worth the wait unless you're super hungry. Good luck finding a spot to lie on the sand because the orange people have taken over. Karma has always been a popular bar to go to down the shore, but since the show there's no room to move around or sit.  Everyone is on top of each other and it's hard to breathe.

The orange people don't even know how to act in public. Orange people are overly tan individuals who use tanning beds instead of the sun's rays or they use both.  They are also impatient in lines for the incredible food and cannot wait longer than five minutes. Orange people are now crazy about fried pickles because Snooki loves them. Only people from Jersey knew the great taste of fried pickles before the Jersey Shore. The food shops are now making money off of these orange people because they're like "Oh my god, Snookie loves fried pickles so we MUST have some. I just don't want to wait in line for 20 minutes." The orange people crowd into the "Shore Store" where the cast works, probably hoping to find one of the cast members. The "Shore Store" sells T-shirts with sayings "Jersey girl", "I <3 the Jersey Shore," etc.

The sun's rays hit my pale skin, giving me a natural summer tan as I lay on my dolphin beach towel and laugh with my friends about anything. The normal topic on the beach goes something like this, "When do you want to turn over?" "Ew, look at that girl," "Damn he's fine," and "Ewwwww, look at him" just to get laughs. Good laughs help the reality stop for a few hours. When my friends and I are done working on our tans, we walked toward the boardwalk for food. I always buy a slice of pizza and fried Oreos or pickles for lunch before we walk up and down the two-mile long boardwalk. After I eat the boardwalk shops call my name. I normally stop in at Corner Body Piercing (since I turned 18). Henna Haven, Beach Shoppe, Shore Store, and Alray are the places I purchase handbags and clothes. Shopping takes a few hours on some days. I feel if I spend money everything will be okay again. When I wasn't old enough to get a real tattoo, a Henna tattoo filled, sating my in need for a temporary fix. I normally got two tiny little stars or Taurus zodiac sign on my right shoulder or right ankle. Henna Heaven sells clothes and handbags too. Corner Body Piercing has been a huge part of my life because I finally got my lip pierced to rebel against my dad's views for a perfect daughter. My dad felt it would ruin my innocent-looking face. I think it shows people, before they get to know me how unique I am and that I'm not afraid of anything.

Even though MTV's show has ruined the reputation of New Jersey, I will always go down to the Shore to find my peace when things are not going my way. I don't care how long it takes to get there or who's walking down the boardwalk. I only care about how the breeze and smell from the ocean wins with its charm. The cast may have changed the scene, but it will never change how beautiful the ocean is.