State of Being, or If your state ceases to exist what happens to your being

I live in central New Jersey. I have lived here for 23 years. Above me is north Jersey, below South Jersey, but right here, is central Jersey. It's fairly simple, the town I grew up in, Monroe Township, is located approximately forty-five miles south of New York City, forty-five miles east of the Jersey shore, and forty-five miles west of Philadelphia. Simply put, in the center of the state of New Jersey. My town's turpike exit is 8A. I live in central New Jersey, which is why I can not comprehend how people can completely dismiss the existance of a central New Jersey.

When in north Jersey, we are referred to as southerners. When down south, we are referred to as northerners. We are neither. We are a diverse mix of both. Monroe Twp. is home to both southern red necks and New York commuters, and we are constantly denied are unique identity. In the minds of most New Jersians we do not exist.

What if people started referring to people located below the Mason-Dixon line as northerners, oh I'd bet they'd love that. People in San Diego are now from Northern California and people from Vermont are good ol' southern boys. Of course, such location-based misnomers are completely relative. Vermonters are southerners in the eyes of Canadians. San Diego is north for Mexicans. But no matter where you are located you can not deny the fact that something located directly in the middle of a body of land would be considered the CENTER.

My former college roommate was located in the unfortunate town of Horseheads, NY. Unfortunate due to its unique title, but also for its location. Of course, a town located within the state of New York, and not in New York City, must for all intents and purposes be considered up-state. Horseheads is in no way, shape, or form up-state. It is actually located at the bottom of the napkin as my roommate often illustrated, or in plain english, west of New York City. Not north or up, but west. I oft times ridiculed this Horseheads resident for getting so irate over a silly location of a town. I now feel her anger. I hereby apologize to Jennie, acknowledge the location of Horseheads, and demand similar respect from those who deny the existance of a central Jersey!