Interesting
July 25th, 2007From google I found a link to the site “Urban Dictionary” that has a discussion between high school kids (I’m assuming they’re high school kids) about Framingham.
I don’t really know what to say about these posts but I guess they speak for themselves. Some interesting reading from kids’ view of Framingham anyway.
That’s really sad that the kids look at life that way.
Comment by Erin July 26, 2007 @ 12:01 am
Reading that made my head hurt.
Comment by Michael July 26, 2007 @ 3:59 am
I truly hope that the people who made some of the comments print them out, lock them away for 20 years and then take them out and read them. Perhaps growing in maturity will make them ashamed of the unreasonable and uneducated comments they made. No place is perfect. Your surroundings are what you make of them. If you strive to live in the gutter, you will. Elevate yourselves children. Smell the flowers, enjoy the sun and enjoy life.
Comment by Susie July 26, 2007 @ 12:35 pm
I’m not really shocked by these comments b/c they were made by children. Framingham is not perfect, it has been going downhill since the 80’s but we can still turn things around. I think part of the problem is that Framingham is surrounded by some of the wealthiest towns (Wayland, Sherborn, Sudbury) in the state and some off the Framingham kids think their town is a ghetto and they act/talk accordingly. Sure downtown Framingham is grittier then downtown Wayland but these kids need to wake up and realize it isn’t a ghetto either.
Comment by mike July 26, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
i’ve lived in framingham all my life and tell anyone who asks it is a great place to grow up and live. i wish you hadnt linked to that page. it is a disgrace that anyone would post messages like that and we are all dumber for having read them.
Comment by sull July 26, 2007 @ 7:12 pm
I guess the good news is that the bitches are dope. At least we’ve got that.
Comment by Julie July 26, 2007 @ 7:49 pm
Funny how none of the little gangstahs mentioned MCI-Framingham as a point of reference for being tough….or being a Staples employee…JOKING!
Comment by Boston Cube July 27, 2007 @ 12:15 am
These views of Framingham are great. I was laughing out loud reading all of it. What a great find.
Comment by Hummingbird Goetzl July 27, 2007 @ 1:15 am
I thought these were hilarious and definitely reflected in some ways what my experience at Framingham High was like and why i loved it. Most of them addressed both sides of Framingham. I thought Framingham was a great place to grow up, in large part because people like these kids gave me a taste of the real world (and some great entertainment along the way- i once witnessed a girl throw an apple at her ex boyfriend in front of a principal, claiming “he stole my moneyz!”). In the end I came out with a great education a great childhood and a better knowledge of what needs to be changed. I love Framingham, but partly because of the apple-throwers, kids with records, and the fact that there were about 5 pregnant girls in my graduating class. You can’t live in Framingham and love Framingham without acknowledging that aspect of it. So I would say that if you lived in framingham your whole life and didn’t acknowledge this side of life you were actually enlightened by reading these, not “made dumber. ” Thanks for the laughs michelle
Comment by Emma July 27, 2007 @ 2:13 pm
I’m 29 now and growing up in Framingham, I had similar attitudes to some of those posters (sans the racism and sexism) we just used different slang. I live on the west coast now, and I still “rep the ham” pretty regularly. i think it’s a testament to the town that kids care about it so much.
And for every post they make about being hood, i can bet you they have a story about just relaxing in one of the really pretty areas of town, or some of the weird out of the way spots only locals will ever find as they explore the town. But when you’re younger you’re usually too cool to talk about those things in public. I know I was, and yet now I’ve actually been published writing about the more tranquil, and for me sacred part of growing up in Framingham.
Comment by Brian Shaughnessy September 4, 2007 @ 1:52 am
Hello everyone, I was the one who wrote that definition. I wrote it when I was a sophomore and, please, let me explain something to those few (and in my opinion, thick headed) individuals that want to call me racist / sexist / uneducated etc…First, let me make clear that I’m not racist or sexist. What do I mean by that? I mean that I am no more racist / sexist than everyone in the world is. Let’s face it, subconsciously in their heads; everyone is somewhat racist / sexist. It’s a sad but unavoidable side effect of living in any society in the world. But do I hate any race or sex simply for being what they are? Do I deserve to be labeled a racist or a sexist? Of course not, that’s fucking ridiculous. (Please excuse my language if you are easily offended, but I honestly think that accurately describes exactly what I mean). In addition, anyone who actually knows me would laugh in the face of anyone who called me such. Also, for the record, out of all of those groups I mentioned in the definition, I had, and still do have, close friendships in every one of them. As for being uneducated, well I was educated and graduated from none other than our lovely Framingham High School and am now attending college, but sure, you can call me uneducated if you want for the simple fact that I, like many others growing up in my generation, deal with racism by making it funny. Of course, this has only in the past few years become acceptable, so naturally those from other generations who are not used to acting this way toward racism find this blasphemous. I’m not surprised because this has been happening for a while, just look at all the controversy surrounding comics like Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, and (I think its safe to say) most comics who are popular today, who essentially thrive on making racism funny. Who are the ones criticizing them? They are the news, the media, and those who can’t understand or refuse to accept this new attitude. However, let’s take a look at who supports them: The younger generations who, obviously, have completely different ways of thinking. It goes without saying that we, as a society, have come a long way from racism dominating us and making us so scared that we can’t even talk or deal with it. The result: all it could do was build up and get worse and worse. Now, when I wrote this definition, who was I targeting it towards? I was targeting it at my fellow classmates and friends. To this day, I have not had one individual that went to the school while I was attending it, in the recent past or who are still currently attending it do anything but praise me for my ability to accurately describe (in a humorous way) what we saw everyday we went to that school. Yes, you heard me correctly: humor. It’s called a joke, have you heard of it? (I now feel obligated to say that that last question was rhetorical, or sarcastic if you will, because clearly many of you have a hard time grasping the idea of sarcasm as displayed in your immoral reaction to my definition). Do I really want to start a race war with my friends and televise it? NO YOU IDIOTS! And quite frankly, the fact that I have to take time out of my life to sit here and explain that to people disgusts me and really says more about those who think that than of me myself. If you are allowing yourself to believe that that was the message I was trying to get across, you have some serious issues with communication and I worry about your social lives. Now, most of you who I am addressing (and I think it’s pretty clear from the previous comments) will probably never read this. If you do, you probably think I’m simply trying to insult you back the way you insulted me when you judged me without actually knowing me and couldn’t tolerate my opinions / beliefs (what do you call that again?…hmmm…I think the word is “bigot”). However, this is not what I’m attempting to do, all I can hope to do with this (now quite long) comment is maybe give you a glimpse into how and why me and those in my generation have the opinions we do. Are we simply a group of racist / sexist / uneducated individuals who can bring nothing but harm to society? Obviously not, and even thinking that for a second is completely unethical. As for those of you who did get a laugh out of my little rant, I’m glad you could relate to it and I, (now after reading these criticizing comments), appreciate your ability to understand what I was trying to do when I wrote that immensely. Is it sad that that’s the way I looked at life when I wrote it? No, because that’s not how I looked at life. That WAS the life I was living. Every event, individual, group and idea I expressed are 100% accurate and I could probably get hundreds to back me up on that. Difference is, a lot of these kids didn’t (and probably still don’t) have the ability to express what they thought about their surroundings. Honestly, I don’t blame them; look at some of the reactions I sparked. No wonder so many of the kids today have trouble expressing themselves, because they’re scared of people who will ignorantly condemn them. Lastly, I just want to make clear that I love Framingham and the high school. I feel very privileged to have grown up and live in what I believe is a community like no other in the world. I honestly don’t know where else you can find so much diversity, and that is a wonderful thing. I hope I shed some light for those of you who were misguided or who misconstrued my words and / or sense of humor. By the way, to the site owner, I LOVE the blog, it’s awesome for other Framingham citizens to be able to relate and share stuff on this website. It’s sort of what I was attempting to do when I wrote that definition; simply let others know that they weren’t alone in their experience through high school and make them laugh at the same time. Damn, I really have a problem with going off on rants. I think I said everything I wanted to, so hopefully someone reads and benefits from this. I’m out. Peace!
Comment by Grid November 19, 2007 @ 1:05 am
To clarify, this is the specific defintion I was reffering to:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Framingham%20high%20school
Comment by Grid November 19, 2007 @ 1:21 am