Utahlogy

There are many differences living here in Utah and living in New Jersey. That's putting is lightly. Many of these differences are evident every single day. Some, only once in awhile. One of the more prevalent differences is the nightly news. I've said over and over again since we've been here (over 11 months now!) that the nightly news is like watching Oprah or Regis. It's mostly human interest stories with an occasional hard news story thrown in. Newspeople wear jeans on Fridays and spend most of the newscast engaged in smalltalk. Why? Because there just is not a lot going on that is really newsworthy.

You probably heard by now that there was a horrible mall shooting here in Salt Lake earlier this week. Some loony walked into a mall with a shotgun and killed five people before the police gunned him down in a clothing store. It was national news. My dad called me while watching Jim Gardner on Channel 6 after hearing the news. UTAH HAD A MURDER!!!

This mall massacre was the single worst massacre in Salt Lake history. Five people dead. SINGLE WORST MASSACRE in Salt Lake history! That would not make the Top 1,000 in Philadelphia. New York? Ah, probably page 10 news. It's funny how my friends and family reacted. One of my friends sent me an e-mail that read, "What kind of town did you move to where someone shoots five people dead!!!" I responded, very simply, "at least Rabbis don't have their wives killed here."

Fact is, it's easy living in Utah. With such a low crime rate and such great climate, it makes people happier. There's less doom and gloom here. And, for someone like me, that's a real good thing. It's more compatible with me.

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Uggh...Now that I am posting this I am realizing that my mother will probably read this and immediately call me. "Are you ever coming home?" RELAX MOM!!! The plan is still to return at some point. :-) (gotta love Jewish mothers....they make you put disclaimers in blog posts..)