The Poconos - Mountains and Money

I had a wonderful two days at Shawnee in the Poconos. I would've been nice to have had more time, but one must work to survive. Nonetheless, the mountains were beautiful, we had fun playing, and the weather was perfect. But, Sociologist that I am, I couldn't help making some interesting cultural observations about the area, the dynamic of the area's changing economy, and about human behavior.

First of all, I love nature and hiking more so than I enjoy large social settings. I truly love people and I love having deep relationships with people, but I'd rather spend time to myself listening to the birds and watching the mist over the fields than going to 'social events'. So I found the Poconos wonderful because of the beauty of the vistas, the protected forests, the convenient hiking trails to gorgeous waterfalls... But how does one entertain the children? Well, we came in-between snow and summer sports seasons, so we could neither ski nor canoe. There was an indoor pool at the lodge, which was perfect for the boys. They swam like minnows for the better part of the trip - which have Mom & Grandma time to talk and relax after having hiked to the Vistas and Falls. All Good.

But, I noticed something odd about the area and the resort. When I was a kid, I tended to hang out with the upper middle class. Where and how people vacation is as important a statement about one's economic status as the kind of car you drive. Seriously. There's bunches of reasons as to why this is the case, but I'll posit the most obvious reason:

Wealth represents the privilege of exclusiveness and power. The wealthy don't want to be inconvenienced by the masses, and want to vacation in places that are exclusive. The value in an expensive vacation isn't about the activity or one's ability to rest, it's about walking into a room where you are part of an elite group and everyone around you knows it.

From this perspective, visiting the Poconos was quite disappointing. Our accommodations were joined town-home units, and not all of them had beautiful views. The furniture was worn, some units did not have DVD players, the jacuzzi had a broken jet, and some units only had tiny one-man hot tubs. The resort was well past it's prime from the 70's. In fact, some of the beautiful mountains in the area were being developed for homes, hotels, restaurants, paddle boats, cheap shopping centers, petting zoos and other odd road-side attractions. Over the past decades, the masses had discovered the Poconos and they're starting to move in.

My parents have a few timeshares and I've had the opportunity to visit with them at a number of places, and Hot Tub Chit-Chat is a great way to compare notes with others on the resort and to find out which resorts are the right resorts. This hot tub was one of the most ethnically diverse I've seen. Black, white, Indian, Hispanic, and I believe that one large family was Polynesian, but I couldn't make out the language and never had a chance to politely ask. The Poconos are now a convenient distance from "The Cities". Nowadays, working class people come here to get away from hard jobs and to forget about their hard lives. And the Hot Tub chit-chat was largely disappointment about the facilities, and talk about how expensive (but Sooooo worth it!) some of the other prime resorts could be... like the Disney's Africa Adventures Lodge. It was a sad mingling of envy and peace - they were glad to have this time with their families or friends, but were envious of others who can afford to indulge themselves more.

On one hand, the resort was disappointing. But, on the other hand, if you're not expecting to be treated like you're rich, the resort was wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed my time because I had uninterrupted time to play with my children, to talk to my mom, and to enjoy beautiful views of mountains and waterfalls.

Now, if only those other humans weren't there, annoying me and giving me momentary concerns about my fiscal worth... Oh well. We can't have everything. Next time, I'll avoid the hot tub banter and go for a hike.