There's Nothing to Do in Providence

I'm reading Less Than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis for the first time for a book club I'm in, and one particular thing keeps jumping out at me.

Everybody in the book is rich, connected, and constantly bored.

Now, I know it was the eighties and there weren't as many time-killing devices as there are now, but still--

This was Los Angeles, and these characters are ridiculously wealthy and all they do is talk about how bored they are.

I'm also aware that this is fiction, but it's surprising how much it reminds me of a lot of what I hear living in Rhode Island.

It's not uncommon to hear people complain that there's nothing to do in Providence.

Even I used to think that until I actually started going out in the city.  Now I'm not sure how anybody can say that.

I've been officially exploring the place I'm from for the past few years, and I still haven't even touched upon most of the restaurants or events that go on here.

I'm not going to be one of those people who claim that we're equal to New York, or even Chicago, but I think there's enough here to keep the average person busy most of the time.  And this is taking into account the fact that now we have so much more access to information about what's going on around us.

What I get from reading Less Than Zero is that a lot of the time, being bored is a choice.

It always amazes me when someone who never goes out or tries to find anything to do talks about moving to another city where there will be more to do when they aren't even taking advantage of what's happening around them now.

(Did you follow that?)

Then they move somewhere and suddenly they're going to restaurants and bars and saying how much better than particular city is.

I always feel like saying "Just so you know, we have restaurants and bars here too."

And, here's the thing, and I don't mean to sound provincial, but--

Just how different is one bar from another?

If you're going out looking for someone to bring home, then yes, New York and someplace like Miami might have more to offer, but if you're just looking to have a good time, isn't a bar a bar?

So far, I'm enjoying the book, but I'm wondering how long it's going to be before I get tired of reading about people with absolutely nothing going on in their lives.

Especially when there are so many other things to do.