KC from an outsider's view

My roommate, a recent KC transplant who wishes to go by the name JR, and I spent most of the weekend decorating our charming apartment, designing and sewing new dresses and drinking wine we purchased last weekend from Yakima Valley in WA. While JR searched for sewing needles, she stumbled across a 2005 poem she wrote about KC. Directly after her discovery, she rose to her feet, took a thoughtful sip of her pinot noir, and read from her pink-papered, handwritten poem as if she were presenting her thoughts to Mayor Barnes with candid authority.

I chuckled loudly at her poetic commentary. I have never heard anyone describe KC the way she had verbalized. Everyone here, including me, has great pride in our hometown, but it was interesting to hear an outsider's point of view. While I still laugh at the humor of her poem, there are many key points that she hits that are actually quite honest and true. For your enjoyment, or for your displeasure, here are the verses of my roommate:

"Kansas City. Full of Pride. Full of Anger built inside. Full of mafia. Full of jerks. Full of Users, Abusers and the Works.

Full of Offices of Corporates who don't care. Full of People who's lives are going nowhere.

Full of Nothing, Full of It, Full of People who don't get it.

Full of homebodies without a life. Full of People who argue and fight. Full of rejects. Full of stoners. Full of persons who are loners.

But I still live here, why? To hang in there for who? To be paid nothing for what? To be dating nobodies and I could move and be dating somebodies. To be honest with myself and move I should. To be mad at myself and stay I won't. To be rolled around in this place of mud and grime is dumb.

Why should I stay and not get away? Who and why are my friends out here? Are they here to use me and do what they will? Are they just needy?

Everyone here is more depressed than I have ever seen. They sit here and wallow about their long days and then they do nothing to change their ways. What exactly does Kansas City have to offer? It rots in the middle of earth for a reason. Nobody likes it and nobody leaves it. A population of unhappy people with nothing to fight for. They are boring and sad and eat all the time. I am bored and mad and sick of these people. They are very standoffish and rude and have nothing to say. Maybe they don't care and like it that way. Kansas City."