West Vs. East: ‘Gossip Girl’ Is Real In Small Towns Too

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R05MhyhLJg&w=560&h=315%5D

I, myself, am one of the Dans. I am literally sitting here typing up an article to send to a media site in order to expose the fact that there is an East side of my city that looks down upon my West end roots. Enough said.

When kids left for “private” school, they never spoke to us, the Dans, again. One of my good friends back in high school left to go to an all girls private school. As soon as she moved into her big fancy house and started hanging out with her new fancy friends, the old life she had disappeared. I disappeared. I can’t even remember the last time I spoke to her. I can’t even remember her face.

The Serenas got the awesome internships while we had to find our own way. All the East end kids got internships straight out of high school or during college by literally doing nothing. Their parents are so wealthy that they could buy their children into a dream job. Can you say Blair Waldorf? My friends, on the other hand, worked our asses off to get where we are and we did this all while paying off our student loans. We don’t have parents who can pay off our debt for us.

Getting into college was not about prestige, but about where financial aid would be greatest. I graduated 17^th in my class and some of my good friends graduated in the top 5, but we based our college decisions around our finances. It would have been great to apply to schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Stanford, but when the applications cost $100 to even apply, we thought twice. Then there was the students who graduated, maybe, in the top 50% of our class, who went on to attend ivy league schools. Why? Because they could afford it. When you’re competing against no one, your money is bound to get you in.

When East Siders date West Siders, you always have issues. Most of the time, West/East side couples do not end up like Serena and Dan, they end up like Lily and Rufus. I am not afraid to say that most East Siders are extremely lazy and take their money for granted. That is where the problems begin. West Siders tend to cherish their money, know how to get their hands dirty, and have the issue that – our dreams never match up with our pay. One side will always have to compromise with the other and family introductions are always awkward as hell.

West siders don’t understand the lives of East Siders and vice versa. West Siders don’t understand the point of paying your way into a country club. This is our logic: Why pay money to go swimming, drink, eat, and play golf when we could just as easily do that at our house, with our neighbors, who we actually have relationships with outside of the normal pleasantries. Do people who go to country clubs even know all the members of the said country club? Are they even your real friends?!?! On the other hand, East Siders wonder why we West Siders have huge bonfires and drink copious amounts of Natty Light with our neighbors on a regular basis. We’re poor and saving our money for that one trip to Europe we will get to take in our lifetime.

* I, as a West Siders myself, can honestly say I don’t have many friends from the East side. The ones that I do have are your typical East side kids, and when I hang out with them, I feel like an outsider in their world. I have nothing against the East side; I am simply an observer. I also just finished Gossip Girl, so I have some time on my hands. My observations may not apply to everyone, but don’t try and tell me you haven’t seen this difference. Let the comments begin.