The 'T' Word

I'm giving up the "T" word.\nYou know -- the "T" word. It's that overused geographical slur used to describe all people not affiliated with the university. \nI'll just say it one last time so we're on the same page: "townie." \nOnce upon a time, in a much less enlightened period of my existence, I used the term to describe Bloomington natives -- those folks who, unbelievably, lived in this town not because they were students, faculty, staff or crazy, but because they wanted to.\nWhen I landed a summer internship last spring, the idea of spending darn near three months in Bloomington amongst tumbleweeds, cicadas and folk with anti-student sentiments struck fear in my heart.\nFor all my ignorance, I couldn't see Bloomington without students -- streets crowded with hoodie-wearing, flip-flop--sporting students.\nSuch a B-town could not exist!\nWe, the 37,000 undergraduate and graduate students, we put the college in college town!\nI mean, what was Bloomington without us?!\nThe answer is simple:\n"Bloomington in the summer is like Disneyland without the lines," my boss told me. "There aren't any lines at Chili's, no traffic -- you'll love it."\nAnd darn it, he was right.\nBloomington without IU students is quiet. It's pleasant to say the least.\nThere weren't any lines at Chili's. I found parking on Kirkwood. And, believe it or not, the only folks I had to wrestle with in the Urban Outfitters clearance section were overzealous kiddies taking mid-day shopping breaks from freshman orientation.\nI was in heaven.\nIn fact, as the final days of summer vacation approached, more and more I began to dread the arrival of students.\nI was becoming one of ... them.\nAs an intern for one of the local papers, I'd finally gone beyond the 5-mile radius of campus. I reported on everything from a horse ring to a hardware store. I went to a softball tournament. \nI met people. And the people were so-called townies.\nThey were just regular folks, soccer moms and reference librarians, police officers and carpet cleaners. \nMy fear of people with no university affiliation that had plagued me since I came to IU as a freshman slowly began to fade.\nThese folks weren't some backwood yokels who mowed their lawns wearing "I hate IU students" T-shirts. They didn't dance in the streets after students' post-final-week-departures. And they didn't teach their kids that all college kids were beer-guzzling, inconsiderate trespassers who encroached upon their beautiful city every fall only to leave it in disarray every spring.\nSteve Hinnefield, a reporter I worked with, reassured me that this town is accustomed to obnoxious (my adjective, not his) college kids. In fact, it's Bloomington's strong association with the university that oftentimes brings people here and keeps people here. If students didn't crowd restaurants and stores during the fall and spring, those wonderful establishments wouldn't be around to enjoy once students left.\nThe summer's nearly over, and I my nearly three-month experience among the general population has left me unscathed.\nSeveral shopping sprees, Jiffy Treet runs and "Sex & the City" DVDs later, and I feel a bit torn.\nPart of me wants the quiet of summer to never end. But with the arrival of map-carrying freshmen, cardboard box-crowded Volkswagens and new faces around the complex, I feel myself eager to walk these crowded sidewalks again.\nOnce again, I'll be part of the majority -- no longer one of the 70,000 Bloomington residents, but one of the 30,000 or so undergraduates.\nI'll never forget my summer as one of the townsfolk. And though I'll never use the "T" word in the manner that I once did, I'd be honored to be mistaken for one of them any day.