Living the American Dream

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Suburban Utopia?

The more I delve into Naperville society, the more extraordinary I find this place to be. On the surface it is middle class town filled with ladies who lunch and men who work to pick up the tab. The children are all geniuses, and most play six instruments, speak four languages and play golf, football and baseball with equal finesse, often at the same time.
Nothing negative ever happens in Naperville. Everyone walks round with a smile and says "good day" as they pass you on the street.
If you drop litter, someone will pick it up, gift wrap it, and politely return it to you. If your grass grows more than an inch, your neighbour will be out trimming it with manicure scissors . It is only allowed to rain at night, dogs are toilet trained and cars drive at 25 miles per hour, stopping to let pedestrians cross even if they are not at a crosswalk.
If you leave your house unlocked, someone will come in and clean it for you. If you leave your car unlocked, they will fill your tank with gas. If you find yourself struggling with your groceries, a boy from the store will come home with you and arrange everything in cupboards for you.
Even below the surface, things are not much different. However, what I have discovered is a tremendous sub-structure of amazingly talented women.
Those who I thought were idling away their time in Starbucks, much like myself, are actually often involved in important meetings. They are not only planners, but doers. Let me give you an example.
Today I joined a meeting of women setting up a Month of Peace celebration for September. It is the brainchild of a Indian engineer who took early retirement several months ago. Now in England, she would be putting her feet up watching soaps all day. Here, she has not only set up a charitable foundation, but also enlisted the help of the town's major movers and shakers. The event will not only be opened with an inaugural speech from the mayor, but will include a talk by Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of the world leader.
All this helps to make Naperville the perfect place to live. On the other hand, children can be immensly pressurised at school. An A grade student elsewhere in the country, may find themselves only achieving Cs here, life is so is highly competitive. Of course I've yet to meet any mother whose child has an IQ of less than 350, but there must be a few hidden away somewhere. Other disparities mean that whereas families here have everything they could wish for, neighbouring towns only a couple of miles away can be highly depressed, and I don't mean in attitude.
I am quite sure Naperville families realise how lucky they are to be living in the Eden they have created for themselves. But I cannot help but wonder what happens to their little chicks when they finally fly the coop and find themselves in the real world.

1 Comments:

  • Good entry Mum.
    I can see this being your second published article in the local paper!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:09 AM  

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