Dear Cohen Repaci,
I really enjoyed your article, and it gave me many laughs. I am a born and raised Vermonter that grew up in the northeast kingdom of Vermont. I cannot imagine what it was like to live in a populated area and the culture shock you experienced when ending up in a small town like Johnson. It was a culture shock to me the first time I went to NYC. We drove in two nights before the New Year and witnessed grown adults in diapers waiting for 48 hours in the freezing cold to get a chance of being able to be close enough to watch the ball drop. I’m not saying just one or two people but hundreds all lined up on the streets just waiting. We decided to do some shopping and threw out the idea of watching the ball drop in person. That same night we witnessed a man being shot outside our hotel window. Moments like that made me appreciative of being a rural Vermonter. Where the highlight of my days are some local livestock getting loose and causing havoc or waiting 30 minutes in line at the Morrisville Dunkin because they only have two employees working. The same Dunkin had a cardboard drive-through window for over a month, and when my curiosity got the best of me and finally I asked what happened to their window I was told by the enthusiastic employee working that one of the other employees left their car keys inside the building and didn’t want to wait for the manager to drive back to let them inside so they broke the window.
I’m very disappointed that I never found out the inspiration behind the name Fuckass Johnson Vermont. You should also know that Morrisville is known as “MoeVegas.” Marsala Salsa sounds like a unique yummy place to eat. I wasn’t aware of such a unique restaurant in town, but when most of the non-chain restaurants look more like an apartment building or someone’s house from the outside it doesn’t really surprise me that I overlooked it. For me your article felt like the format of a journal entry and a way for you to vent. I feel we could learn a lot from each other. If you ever need someone to talk to, you can gladly shoot me an email.
From a fellow VTSU Johnson student and your friend in Kickass Hardwick Vermont.
– Kristen Lavine
A response from the Author…
Hi, all!
Firstly, I would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the feedback I got on my Fuckass Johnson piece! This is my first published story (at least in the great state of Vermont), so one can understand how nerve racking that can be.
The majority of feedback was positive (which makes me so happy), but I also understand there’s some confusion as well. In full seriousness: I love Johnson very, very much. It’s a place that has a certain charm to it. Whether that be the small-town living I’m not used to, or the way Vermont works, I’m elated to get a chance to have first-hand experience with it.
The day I decided I was done with Wisconsin and the Midwest, I googled “random U.S. state generator.” Vermont was the first thing to pop up. I looked into Vermont more and more, not knowing that one day I would call this place my home. If it weren’t for Johnson, I never would’ve begun a life I wanted to live.
As I said before, I love Johnson with all of my heart. I call it Fuckass-Johnson because it is, in fact, fuckass! And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Never stop fucking, never stop assing, Johnson.
– Cohen Repaci
