Living in a suburb outside of Chicago you would think that people would be a bit more open to certain things. But it is actually quite the opposite. Living here over the years you get to see how things work in a city in which people try to "hide" themselves from life. I have also learned that when you are in an area that is just outside a place like Chicago, it does not make that area similar, but rather it appears the closer you are to a big city the more people try to stay away from "big city" type things.
I guess it sort of makes sense. Maybe people figure if they wanted city type things, then they would live in the city. But that should not apply to everything in life. If you attempt to hide yourself in your little bubble for too long you will end up missing alot of life.
I have known many people over the years to have that bubble type attitude. Myself, I grew up in Chicago. So I tend to have a more open outlook on things. But many of the people that I know who have grown up in this wonderful suburban area seem to have a shielded point of view on things. And many of them are naive to the ways of life. They do not try new things. And if something is not familiar to them, they have a tendency to shy away from it and even put it down, simply out of ignorance.
I fear the same has happened with a recent vote that occurred in City hall recently. A sanctioned MMA event was scheduled to take place in St. Charles. The events, four of them, were to take place in the downtown area of St. Charles at a theater called the Arcada. However the city board voted against the events taking place in a staggering 9-0 landslide.
"I don't think it is an appropriate type of event for the city," said 3rd Ward Alderman John McGuirk. What exactly is he worried about? Is he worried that the event, if it takes place, will influence the youth of the area to all become fighters? Does he think people will run through the city picking fights at random? Quite honestly I am not sure what he and others are afraid of, but it is a harmless event that would have brought some clean revenue to the city.
Sadly, the view of Mr. McGuirk is echoed by many in power in the city of St. Charles. Similar actions have taken place to stop certain events like the MMA bout that will now never happen. It starts to make a person wonder what this town is trying to either become or remain like. Do city officials think they are a bit more pure than the rest of the surrounding areas?
This particular MMA event is a sanctioned event which is fully insured and supported by the authorities in the MMA world. There is nothing about this that is "backyard" at all. And it is disheartening to me that things like this will most likely never come to the town. It is reasons much like this one that helped to make up my mind to move to neighboring Geneva. Now I'm not sure How Geneva would have handled such a vote. But I would imagine it would have happened almost like the St. Charles vote considering the relationships of the two towns. But I gather there would have at least been 1 or 2 votes for the event to take place.
We will never know. I doubt it will be any time soon before a similar event makes an attempt to come to one of these two towns considering how they were shot down recently. But I hope they at least try within the next couple years. It would be a nice change to see an event such as MMA to come to town. It would surely help to bolster the local economy and help add to the allure of the local area and business. All we can do is hope, cross our fingers and maybe get involved in some local government. Hmm... that is an interesting thought indeed.
