Southie Pride

Here we go Southie!

Written by Peter Gailunas

Southie is all riled up!  And you don’t want to mess with us when we’re riled up.  Our “Southie against the world” attitude come from decades of outsiders thinking they know what’s good for our neighborhood (think forced busing and St. Patrick’s Day Parade).  These outside opinions have historically served to bring our community together and stand up for what we believe is right.  The latest battle is against 495, a production company based out of LA that is desperate to make Southie the subject of a reality show.  That doesn’t sound too bad until you learn that 495 produced the Jersey Shore.  Not familiar with Jersey Shore?  It’s a show where a bunch of twenty-somethings from New York drink, dance, fist fight, fist pump and GTL all around the Jersey Shore.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is 495 is having a tough time finding Southie people willing to open up their lives to this type of foolishness.  According to one of the producers they’ve had “numerous doors shut in their faces”.

So now 495 goes to the local media and says what a difficult time they are having casting for this show.  And Southie is once again a hot topic for the media.  We’ve been covered by all local news stations, newspapers, radio shows and even websites like the Huffington Post and Perez Hilton.  Well, this is just getting Southie even more fired up against these 495 outsiders trying to shove something down our throats.  People have gone to Facebook to express their concerns and tell the people to “hold the line” and be strong.  One Facebook post encourages people to contact our local elected officials and tell them to deny permits for filming.  The final outcome I predict?  A town exploited by either local nuts that are willing to sell out Southie for the chance to be the next “Situation” or trashy people from other towns dropped into Southie to make it appear like they are from Southie.  Ridiculous.  Shame on you 495. 

If these 495 are so hell-bent on doing a show about Southie pride, maybe they should chronicle some of our “average” families.  Both parents work;do homework with their kids; make them supper; and get them ready for bed.  Anyone who has ever done this (or witnessed it) knows these tasks are high drama material.  They usually involve screaming, crying, threats, and bribes.  And Southie families have their own GTL (gym, tan, laundry).  The gym is early in the wee hours of the morning before the kids wake-up or in the nice weather the gym can be substituted with a run or walk around Castle Island.  The tanning is when you spend three or more hours at your kids baseball/softball/football/soccer/lacrosse game.  Depending on how many kids you have and how many sports they play, you might spend all day tanning.    And the laundry part is pretty much constant.  Once it’s done, there’s more. 

If they want to do a show about Southie pride, it should be about the lessons our parents taught us and that we are trying to teach our kids.  Those lessons are love of family, loyalty, sense of community and to do the right thing.  That is what Soutie pride is all about.  Stay strong Southie!