maplewood invaded by blowhards and rowdy kids (theatre, high school)

[Midwesterns45]

Originally Posted by elflord1973

Went to Maplewood this weekend to check out the town, as it's a place we've been considering buying in.

First, I checked out the downtown, which is gorgeous. Lots of charming independent mom-and-pop stores.

I do my usual routine -- go for a run around the town. I check out the neighborhood, which is beautiful ... starting near downtown, down Tuscan road to Springfield ave (I guess I was in "Maplehood" -- wouldn't have known it though), then up Harvard ave, then all the way down Valley. Then up Shorthills road, up to West Orange and back to Maplewood via South Orange.

My wife sat down and people watched/read.

Then I came back. My wife quietly tells me, "the kids run the town here". It didn't take long to see what she meant. Yep, they were running the show, especially the ones in proximity of the ice cream store. Don't get between one of those kids and his/her ice cream if you know what's good for you!

We went in to Arturo's to try some thin crust pizza. The dining experience was just fine, except seated adjacent to us, were two couples with some very rowdy kids.

But while the kids were just hyperactive, one of the couples were obnoxious. This couple, Mr and Mrs Blowhard, were relating a story about a recent night out with some friends, and while the other couple stayed fairly silent, they proceeded to launch into ferocious criticisms of each "friend".

We discovered that one of the friends was 45 and single, and not terribly attractive, though not terribly unattractive either. A great person. Not terribly attractive though -- and single at 45.

Then another of their friends recently had a wedding, unlike their single friend. But they didn't think too highly of the wedding ceremony. The music was "hackneyed".

Then another one ... also "a great person" -- married to some guy who doesn't make any money. The guy works in finance, and is depressed. Mrs Blowhard confides, "we think he is an alcoholic". Mr Blowhard agrees. Both of them feel better about themselves for having friends who are not as good as the Blowhards.

Once done trashing their friends, Mrs Blowhard talks about a television show. It's about her, apparently (boy, isn't everything!) The TV show is like Seinfeld, it's about nothing (except her, of course), and who would she be ? An "over-educated" urban blowhard who begins a new life as a suburban blowhard.

(I hope they're not reading this)

The town was beautiful (though all those kids at the ice cream shop scared me).

I hope the blowhards are from out of town.

Not only are there a lot of rowdy little kids in the downtown area of maplewood but on friday and saturday nights there are teenagers everywhere! Over the past couple of years its become the teen hangout area on weekend evenings. My 81 year old mother was visiting from Milwaukee in May and she was angry that she couldn't get to her car because teenagers were blocking the sidewalk.
Maplewood is very child-centric and I don't recommend it if you are somebody looking for a single crowd.

[Midwesterns45]

Maplewood really sucks when it comes down to annoying and rude people who gossip. Maplewoodonline.com has become the big sight where people vent around knit-picky things that annoy them. It's mostly these housewives who have too much time on their hands, frankly its very bothersome.

Going in the town lacks serenity, there are always people you recognize and there are so many loitering kids. I HATE IT!

[doncorleyone]

what the hell is a Blowhard?????????? sounds like a coke addict to me

[BergenCountyJohnny]

Originally Posted by elflord1973

Went to Maplewood this weekend to check out the town, as it's a place we've been considering buying in.

First, I checked out the downtown, which is gorgeous. Lots of charming independent mom-and-pop stores.

I do my usual routine -- go for a run around the town. I check out the neighborhood, which is beautiful ... starting near downtown, down Tuscan road to Springfield ave (I guess I was in "Maplehood" -- wouldn't have known it though), then up Harvard ave, then all the way down Valley. Then up Shorthills road, up to West Orange and back to Maplewood via South Orange.

My wife sat down and people watched/read.

Then I came back. My wife quietly tells me, "the kids run the town here". It didn't take long to see what she meant. Yep, they were running the show, especially the ones in proximity of the ice cream store. Don't get between one of those kids and his/her ice cream if you know what's good for you!

We went in to Arturo's to try some thin crust pizza. The dining experience was just fine, except seated adjacent to us, were two couples with some very rowdy kids.

But while the kids were just hyperactive, one of the couples were obnoxious. This couple, Mr and Mrs Blowhard, were relating a story about a recent night out with some friends, and while the other couple stayed fairly silent, they proceeded to launch into ferocious criticisms of each "friend".

We discovered that one of the friends was 45 and single, and not terribly attractive, though not terribly unattractive either. A great person. Not terribly attractive though -- and single at 45.

Then another of their friends recently had a wedding, unlike their single friend. But they didn't think too highly of the wedding ceremony. The music was "hackneyed".

Then another one ... also "a great person" -- married to some guy who doesn't make any money. The guy works in finance, and is depressed. Mrs Blowhard confides, "we think he is an alcoholic". Mr Blowhard agrees. Both of them feel better about themselves for having friends who are not as good as the Blowhards.

Once done trashing their friends, Mrs Blowhard talks about a television show. It's about her, apparently (boy, isn't everything!) The TV show is like Seinfeld, it's about nothing (except her, of course), and who would she be ? An "over-educated" urban blowhard who begins a new life as a suburban blowhard.

(I hope they're not reading this)

The town was beautiful (though all those kids at the ice cream shop scared me).

I hope the blowhards are from out of town.

LOL, hilarious!!!

I hope they ARE reading this!!! lol

Blowhards and obnoxious rowdy kids have invaded every town in my area, it's nothing new to me. I'm not used to it, but I'm definitely aware of it.

I was parked by my town library last week, and went for a walk to the park behind the library. Back there were some kids on bikes, doing something they shouldn't have been, because when they saw me they huddled quietly to hide something. They then rode off, one of them stopped and picked up a flattened cigarette from the ground (gross!) and lit it and smoked it!

I walked back to my car and saw the kids near my car. I kept an eye on them, and two of them went right up to my car, one was looking in the windows, the other one leaned over by my tire. I walked quietly to be able to grab him, but before I got there I realized he was stealing my tire valve cap (probably because it is gold colored). He sat up and I yelled, and he and the others took off.

What burns me up was not the cap - I have extras and it's a cheap thing. I just wonder what they'd have done if I weren't around. Also, even though the cap is not a big deal, the idea that they did this was so offensive. What burns me up more is that IF somehow I could catch the kid, or a cop could have nabbed the kid, and gone to the kid's parents, there's a better chance the parent would have gotten mad at ME for having him caught and not the little punk for stealing. It seems lately that the kids run a lot of towns because it keeps them out of their obnoxious blowhard parents' ways.

[clevedark]

Originally Posted by goonsquad

Just curious...why did you leave?

DH got a very good job offer in Boston. There would be no where else I'd rather live if we had to live in NJ. And I grew up in Chatham just down the road a piece and went to HS in Summit. I know the area far too well.

[veuvegirl]

Originally Posted by Midwesterns45

Maplewood really sucks when it comes down to annoying and rude people who gossip. Maplewoodonline.com has become the big sight where people vent around knit-picky things that annoy them. It's mostly these housewives who have too much time on their hands, frankly its very bothersome.

Going in the town lacks serenity, there are always people you recognize and there are so many loitering kids. I HATE IT!

LOL no offense but that is really naive. Maplewoodonline consists of a lot more than housewives, or have you not read it? VP's of banking, Editors of major magazines, writers of major magazines and newspapers, producers, oh yeah and housewives. Yes there is a lot of venting and complaining, there is also a lot of support and help from the community and a lot of great people.

[montoto]

Thank you Thank you!!!!!! You mean I'm not the only one who hates living in maplewood?
We moved here because of the location, and some of the natural beauty that has not yet been absorbed by the ghetto.
Moderator cut: unnecessary
2) The downtown offers mediocre restaurants for people with eating disorders
3) The infrastructure of the town is crumbling, while illegal "citizens" sneak into the school system unchecked ( hey Abbott!! )
4) The township commitee is one dizzy bunch; they are drawn to "environmental" projects like moths to a flame, spending money that nobody has, while litter and graffitti (check out our lovely gum wall) are the norm.
5) " diversity now!" is what the people want....its turned into a bloody freak show. Diversity has its drawbacks.
6) I could go on but I feel a bowel movement coming.
7) BTW, if you're cool, you'll get banned from that "maplewood online" idiocy.

[clevedark]

LOL.

I hear you about the Reservation. I think the residents accept that kind of behavior (they just shrug and are like, so what?) because it allows them to think they're hard-core New Yorkers who have seen it all. It's disgusting that you can't even take a walk there because of what you might witness.

But for all the rest I completely disagree with you!

You should move to another town--you'd be much much much happier.

[veuvegirl]

Originally Posted by montoto

Thank you Thank you!!!!!! You mean I'm not the only one who hates living in maplewood?
We moved here because of the location, and some of the natural beauty that has not yet been absorbed by the ghetto.
Moderator cut: unnecessary
2) The downtown offers mediocre restaurants for people with eating disorders
3) The infrastructure of the town is crumbling, while illegal "citizens" sneak into the school system unchecked ( hey Abbott!! )
4) The township commitee is one dizzy bunch; they are drawn to "environmental" projects like moths to a flame, spending money that nobody has, while litter and graffitti (check out our lovely gum wall) are the norm.
5) " diversity now!" is what the people want....its turned into a bloody freak show. Diversity has its drawbacks.
6) I could go on but I feel a bowel movement coming.
7) BTW, if you're cool, you'll get banned from that "maplewood online" idiocy.

• The reservation I used to run in daily. Yes there is a homosexual crowd somewhere that is cruising, but considering the fact I ran almost every day, and never saw it, they are extremely discrete. Your prejudice is obvious and frankly disgusting.[/SIZE]
• The restaurants are not mediocre, they have been written up in many newspapers as some of the best restaurants in NJ.[/SIZE]
• The illegal students are a problem, it saddens me that they haven’t done more about this. That said, the HS school is still one of the top in the country.[/SIZE]
• ]The gum wall, get over it, most people find it amusing.[/SIZE]
• And to get banned from MOL you aren’t cool, you have to be a rude idiot for that to happen.[/SIZE]

If you don’t like it move

[VeradoDan]

LOL. Well, if that's Maplewood, it's also every town around here. Brielle comes to mind as the biggest offender, and they even have their own gossip forum as well. I remember a few years back, some of the more liberal parents even held "Support the School Budget" cocktail parties and ostracized those who didn't agree. It may be a little pricier than Maplewood, even, and they hate that their kids have to go to Manasquan for high school instead of the better ranked Pt. Pleasant Beach HS.

Honorable mention to Toms River, except the yuppified, hoity-toity part of town by the bay is balanced by its more down-to-Earth section west of Hooper Avenue.