By Josh Dinetz
editorial@antonmediagroup.com
There is no easy way to say this. However: We here in Roslyn live in a bubble. Roslyn is considered by us residents to be the greatest place. We have the greatest stores, restaurants, country clubs, citizens, temples, schools, hair salons, tennis facilities, cars, but do we really have the greatest attitudes? I was recently flying back from Palm Beach after spending some time with my grandparents. On my flight back, I had the opportunity to sit next to a fellow member of the Roslyn community.
Being a pretty sociable person, we struck up a conversation within minutes about the mutual people we knew, our favorite places in town, colleges (Syracuse Class of 2020), and then we got into the conversation about enjoying the area. However, we started thinking about it more and more: are we really enjoying it here? As I am only 17, almost 18, I don’t really know much different, so of course I love where I am, yet I know so many people who moved here and had/have a hard time adjusting to our lifestyle.
It is no secret that we live in an affluent area. I can’t even count the number of Mercedes I see on my way to school and it’s only about a mile down Glen Cove Road from where I live. Friends have moved to Roslyn from all over: Queens, the West Coast, Florida, even different countries and they say that life here is unreal. If I was to go to some of their hometowns, I would probably be lost. I’m not going to make myself look good and say that I’m not part of the bubble because I am, but I know a lot more about the outside world than others.
How many of us went to sleepaway camp, teen tours and are going to private universities that cost more than other nation’s per capital income? How many of us go on vacations every year and have a BMW, Mercedes or a Range Rover? Few places in the world, besides for some pockets of New Jersey and Westchester, are like it here on Long Island’s Gold Coast. I’m not saying that we are fake and not real people, but we aren’t living life like most and many of us don’t understand that. I only recently realized how fortunate I am to have parents who are able to send me away for the summer, go on vacation, send me to a great college and get me a car. But most importantly, they taught me the meaning of life.
It isn’t about what you have but it is about how you come across. Most people who know me think that I’m extremely outgoing, can talk for hours (Most Talkative 2016), loud, maybe a little cocky at times, but that’s somewhat good. Most people know that I am someone that will tell them how it is, make them feel better and genuinely be a good guy. My ultimate goal is to break out of this bubble. I hope that more young adults in Roslyn will also do so. There are so many things about life that I have yet to learn. It isn’t my parents fault. It isn’t my teachers fault. The blame lies on the culture of Roslyn.
The culture of Roslyn is extremely materialistic. Argue with me and tell me that it isn’t. Try. You can’t. This isn’t a healthy way to live life. There are people who would die to be able to send their kids to a great college like the majority of us. There are people who would love to drive a Mercedes and go out to a fancy dinner on the weekends. We overlook this. To the people who are less fortunate, everything that we do in Roslyn is a want. To the people of Roslyn, it’s a need. We all feel the urge to one-up each other.
It is always a major wakeup call when I meet someone and they ask where I’m from. “Long Island” I would say (first eye roll). They then ask where on Long Island. “Roslyn” (second eye roll). And depending if they make an excuse to walk away and be finished, they might ask this question: “Do you know so and so?” “Oh, that’s my _______.” That’s when they finally walk away. We are thought to be snobs, unrealistic, trying to show everyone that we live the perfect life. I do truly think that the majority of us are somewhat upset about how we live our life here. I think many would want to live in a place where society isn’t so harsh, where people won’t talk about you, where if you were to get a divorce, the whole town would know in a week (okay, fine, four days). My rant is over. Instead of hating me now and thinking that I called everyone here fake (which I didn’t), I really want you to think about this bubble and how it affects our lives. Do we really want this?
