“Don’t hassle me I’m local” – a blog by Jeff Sullivan

I was recently hanging out at the Playwright when when a group in their 30’s asked my opinion on when one officially becomes  “Southie.” I knew what they meant, but I wanted to dig a little deeper into their question.

“What exactly do you mean, ‘when do you officially become ‘Southie?'”

They went on to explain what we all already knew, when you move to a new part of the country, what amount of time has to pass before you can “officially” say that you’re a “local” (Think Bill Murray in What About Bob “Don’t Hassle Me I’m Local” t-shirt).

I had to ponder the question for a bit, see, I grew up in Quincy, however my parents were both born and raised in Southie.  As a kid, we spent more time at Castle Island than we did Wollaston Beach and after college I spent many years living all over Southie.  However, in between my tour of residences of Southie, I also lived in L.A. so was I L.A.? DEFINITELY NOT! I also lived/worked in Manhattan/NYC for 10 plus years and well, the “official” rule for NYer’s is “if you last 10 years in NYC, then you are OFFICIALLY a NYer” so was I a NYer? Hmmm, inasmuch as I absolutely love NYC, the answer is NOPE! But wait, I also spent years in IOWA for college, does that make me officially a farmer? Hell no…

So what am I? Or the bigger question is when is it? When does one officially become from Southie?

Well, here’s my take on it; for all you folks out there that moved to Southie from different parts of the state or country, the answer is NEVER… however, that’s okay, really, it’s okay; you’ll always be where you are from and as a current South Boston resident you will be far better off than all those wishing that they did live in this beautiful neck of the woods of Boston.

Oh and as for me, Quincy with its 26 miles of coastline, home of two presidents and the brilliance and beauty, I’ll always be a happy to just be a grateful “visitor” of Southie.

Jeff Sullivan born of South Boston parents, grew up in Quincy, yet left in the early 90’s to attend college at the University of Iowa. Post college, Jeff moved to Southie where he began his career in finance, in 2001, he moved to L.A. then NYC in 2002. After a decade of living  and working as an investment wholesaler and national relationship manager for two Fortune 500 companies in NYC, Jeff moved back to Southie to start his dream company, urposse.com, on 8/22/14 he “quietly launch” and will be doing a national campaign this fall.  Jeff still realizes that he’s “NOT FROM AROUND HERE”.