Happily Bored

Michelle and I lived in a high-rise in Downtown Dallas after we got married. Neither of us had done the urban living thing, and we thought we should do it before we had children. Our thinking was correct in that it was exciting and fun and then very different once we had a child. Downtown had a hum of energy that ran 24/7, and our floor-to-ceiling windows looked down on Main Street which always provided a view of something interesting. Plus, we could walk to numerous bars and restaurants whenever we wanted to grab dinner or a drink.

And then we had Ella. Living downtown with a child wasn’t nearly as fun. There were a few kid-friendly restaurants, but pushing a stroller through a downtown crowd just to get something to eat wasn’t nearly as fun. We knew that we would be following the parental playbook and moving out of downtown eventually, so we made the inevitable move to the suburbs and ended up in Plano. I explained why we chose Plano in my post – https://daddydiary.blog/2024/05/21/i-saw-the-sign/.

When I was single, I would tease my friends who moved to the suburbs and tell them that they used to be cool, but now they are boring. It turns out that I was correct. According to a recent national survey, Plano was rated one of the 15 most boring cities in America. I don’t know how many cities there are in America, but I know that to make the Top 15, Plano must be really boring. Here is what the author of the survey had to say:

Plano is a relatively pleasant and calm location to live, but calm hardly equals an exciting travel destination. The nightlife of this city was ranked 93rd in the US and 97th regarding most music venues per person here.

Things could be better regarding art centers and fine dining options as well. And even though this city is indeed located in an affluent state with excellent schools, it lacks a lot of entertainment most look for when planning their vacation.

Plain-O, Texas. Where the name says it all.

For all my Plano neighbors, don’t put the “For Sale” sign up in your yard just yet. According to another survey that was released just after the “boring” survey, Plano was listed as the happiest city in America.

Wait, what? How can one of the most boring cities also be the happiest? I haven’t seen a plot twist like that since Kaiser Soze climbed into the passenger seat of a black Jaguar.

I didn’t think that you couldn’t be bored and happy at the same time.

The “happy” survey mentions things like financial stability, health insurance coverage, and overall quality of life. Boy, I had been looking for happiness in the wrong places.

I had been looking for happiness in the places that the “Boring” survey mentioned – bars and concert venues. That’s not to say that I wasn’t happy when I was grabbing drinks with friends or attending a concert. But the high I get after a concert is fleeting. Sometimes it lasts for an hour, sometimes it lasts for a couple of days. Maybe the “happy” survey was on to something. Maybe it was alluding to a different kind of happiness.

Since I moved to Plano, I have lived what many would consider a boring life. I spend most of my nights at home playing with Legos, board games, and the make-believe game du jour that Ella conjured up. I don’t drive an exciting car, and I don’t routinely dine at Michelin-star restaurants. I watch 60 Minutes religiously. If you looked up “boring” in the dictionary, it would say, “See Andy in Plano.”

One night last week, Ella asked if I would sit with her and watch her read. It didn’t sound like a very exciting offer, but of course, I said yes. So, she climbed into my lap and began reading a Nancy Drew book. I watched as my daughter became deeply enthralled in the mystery and asked if she could stay up past her bedtime to finish the book. Even if I had said no because it was bedtime, she just would’ve taken the book with her to bed and read after I left. Plus, both of my legs fell asleep somewhere around page 12, so it wasn’t as if I was going anywhere anyway. I sat there for an hour while she read to herself.

By any definition, sitting and watching someone else read would be classified as boring. Not one time during the hour did I think to myself, “I’m really bored.” Granted, my mind wandered several times during that hour, and I was able to solve several of the world’s problems (future blog post notification) as I sat and watched her read.

Ok, I was wrong. Happy and boring can coexist, it’s just that happiness trumps boredom. And maybe happiness has more to do with your company than your geography.