I never thought it would happen that I'd want to live in a more ... hrm ... culture-centric area. By that, I mean that I'd like to live in a community of people like me. Does that make me an isolationist? I don't think so. My first honest thought on this came yesterday while listening to the radio. Your run-of-the-mill radio station DJ wished everyone a Happy Easter -- eggs, ham and all. Today while on the shuttle and then at work people kept asking me how my Easter was. I can't imagine living someplace where people ask me how Pesach is going or how Yom Kippur is treating me. Can you imagine living someplace where it isn't "Christmas Break" and "Easter Break"? I can. I want to go to that place. I don't hate Christians and Christian greetings for Christian holidays, I just want to not have to worry about my answer. So instead of saying "I don't celebrate Easter, thank you," I said "I had to work," to which the shuttle driver replied, "Well that's not good at all, I'm sorry." I wanted to say, "But my Passover is going swell. I've had some amazing gefilte fish and charoset, thanks for asking!"
I wonder how that would feel. As for now, though, I'm stuck in the center of the nonJewish center of the U.S.
Anyhow. I don't want to sound like an anti-religious pluralism bitch, I just want to feel cozy. I understand that when someone says "Happy Easter!" I can reply with "Happy Passover!" but in a Christian society, the other person still gets squemish. There's no getting over that. So either way it feels like a loss.
In two days I'll be in the thriving metropolis that is Cleveland, Ohio. Oh the joy.