Rank Boredom

Well, the national rankings are out and the news is not good for the home team. And by rankings, I mean the boredom rankings. The website Finance Buzz rated the 75 largest cities in the United States for how boring they are, and Wichita was rated second. Or, more appropriately, second from last. So, hooray for Jacksonville, Florida! I guess.

My response when I read this horrific news was, "Um, yeah. So?"

I confess I'm fighting the urge to argue against the ranking. Finance Buzz states that Wichita is lacking in good tourism and food spots. In fact, Wichita has some really interesting museums and the metro area has two high-quality zoos. The shopping can be a lot of fun if you know where to go (Hatman Jack's is a wonder, but it can be a pain to find it). As for food, Wichita has some excellent spots. For some reason, they have particularly good eastern Mediterranean food, but you can find delicious food of just about any style of cuisine. Once you get into the outer areas of the metro, you can find all sorts of hole-in-the-wall places to eat that are great. As it happens, we have one in the small town (population 4300) where I live. Should you choose to visit, just let me know because I have many places I can recommend that will keep you busy, entertained, and well-fed for days.

Let's not kid ourselves. The third-best restaurant in Wichita isn't cracking the top fifty in San Francisco. I know this because I used to live in the Bay Area. There are miles of distance between what you can do and where you can go there versus what you can do and where you can go here. We aren't making up that gap anytime in the next century.

I'm okay with that. Most everyone around here is okay with that. The Wichita Chamber of Commerce is NOT okay with that, because that's their job, but the magic wand you'd need to change the facts on the ground doesn't exist outside of Hogwarts, so I'm in favor of making the most out of what we do have. We have a lot of interesting and casual things to do and a lot of friendly, welcoming people who aren't concerned about labels or rankings from obscure websites. Sometimes, when I see what is going on in the more highly ranked places, I realize boring is good. Sometimes it's even great. I know the Wichita CoC disagrees, but our mental health around here would be a lot better if we'd just embrace the boring and make the most of what we are.

In light of that, I've got a word of warning for Jacksonville. Next year, you'd better bring your boring "A" game (or perhaps I should call it your "B" game) because we're coming for you. It's about time we were the best at something.