I’m from Jersey, you from Jersey?

I have lived in New Jersey for going on 40 years. I live here now by choice and bristle at some of the dumber jokes made at the state’s expense (and laugh when the jokes are funny). So I can sympathize with the folks who have kicked off this campaign to combat the stereotypes.

And yet, I am flummoxed that its slogan is “Jersey Doesn’t Stink.” First, some areas do, but that comes with the territory (farms and industry) and is true for most states. More importantly, it is a dopey slogan, a negative that has nothing positive to say and that plays to, rather than against, the stereotypes. The campaign would have done better with one of those silly songs that made the rounds several years ago — “I Like Jersey Best” — or a billboard with famous Jerseyans (Springsteen, Sinatra, DeVito, Nicholson, Robert Pinsky, William Carlos Williams, Rick Barry, Franco Harris, etc.).

Now, that doesn’t stink, right?

• Send me an e-mail.
• Read poetry at The Subterranean.
• Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet