I <3 Mass

I have spent all of my life bashing Massachusetts. It has been an amusing and easy game, but now that I am a resident of the state, I find it to be a bit dangerous. Plus, I think my fiancé is becoming pretty offended.

So I decided to set out on a quest of sorts. What is it about Massachusetts that, despite its many flaws (and I will never deny that it has them), makes this state desirable to live in? It is, after all, the most populated of the six New England states. Here is what I’ve found:

MA is the site of the first European colonists. I’ll look over the fact that that subsequently means it’s also the first place we killed and/or mistreated Indians and instead commend the Puritans, however naïve their work ethic ideas were, for their bravery in battling New England winters without heating.

I’m all for a good old fashion overthrow of the establishment, and MA seems to have mastered that during the Revolutionary War. A couple more tea bag throwing parties and we may just see our dream of a Dunkin Donuts on every street corner, guys!

We are one of four states that remains officially a “Commonwealth.” It doesn’t really mean anything, but more or less allows us to brag at state conventions. Or just pretend that we’re really special.

It is the home of both Boston (the coolest large city in the country) and Cape Cod. Therefore, I can truly embrace my love of Red Sox, the Charles, fresh haddock, my now privy information about the location of the Cape Cod tunnel and anything else cool about either the city or the Cape.

I live in probably the only state where half of it is commuting suburbs to just one of the cities. Rhode Island might fall under that category, but I think it’s too small to count.

We’re the only state ambitious enough (crazy enough) to spend $14.6 billion and 21 years to dig tunnels. (That’s the Big Dig to those of you not from around here).

It is quite the literary Mecca, and the following authors have called it home: Anne Hutchinson, Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Elizabeth Bishop, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe, John Greenleaf Whittier, Edith Wharton, Nathanial Hawthorne Jack Kerouac, Sylvia Plath, E.E. Cummings, Dr. Seuss and many more.

MA has a noble history in education. We were the first state to require schooling and boast the first public school system, college, and public library. Currently there are over 100 colleges and universities in the state. Worcester has 10 and there are over 40 in Boston.

Okay, so I won’t be able to help myself from making jabs at my new home. I mean, who can resist with a state whose unofficial motto is “Our taxes are lower than Sweden’s and our Senators are more corrupt.”? I’ll always be a Live Free or Die New Hampshirite, but I suppose the home of the Red Sox is a pretty good place for me to call home as well. For now, at least…