Five Towns Guide To The Perplexed

Krum has a great post up which breaks down the different demographics that make up the wonderful community I call home. Check it out. It is, as always, hilarious. His post struck a nerve, especially the part about the dearth of a decent bookstore:

...there is little, um, how you say, thinking going on in the Five Towns, period. OK. Sorry. That was harsh. But seriously. While there are 75 boutiques and 23 beauty salons on Central Ave., there is only one quite crappy book store.

This has been a rant I've gone on many a time. My version went something like Krum's. One can purchase a wig at one of tens of wig sellers, choose from egg, water, or chocolate chip challah every shabbos, or buy your pick of tens of thousands of shoe styles - from stilettos to motorcycle boots. Yet, the best bookstore this neighborhood can keep in business is a lousy "Borders Express" (formerly an equally lousy Waldenbooks), with the largest selection in the "Popular Fiction" section. And I could swear the alcove that houses the huge selection of glossy fashion and shelter magazines takes up more space than "History" and "Biography" combined. You don't even want to know how huge the "Self-Help" section is. Trust me. And the store closes at 6 PM almost every night. Really.

And Krum is right on the money about the lack of large-scale interest in intellectual pursuits out here. There is a Rav who gives what is called a "Women's Hashkafa Shiur" every week. Nice, but translating Hashkafa as "story time" is a bit loose for my tastes. I know a lot of community women who attend a Shiur given by a local semi-celebrity Rebbetzin, and while I'm sure her experiences and faith make her extremely inspiring to hear, I personally need a little more content mixed in. Let's just say there are a lot more Tehillim groups for women than Chavruta learning programs.

And before any of you trolls come back to my comment section telling me that it is somehow Lashon Hara to talk ill of a neighborhood that includes (roughly) 30,000 Orthodox Jews, be aware that as I've said before, the behavior I describe here is not objectively bad. The people who live out here seem to be pretty happy with the status quo. It certainly doesn't seem to be hurting the demand for real estate any. And if you still feel you have to comment and defend this neighborhood against my supposed slander and libel, go do it at Krum's. He started this.