The laziest town in Nebraska

Dictionary.com defines lazy as being disinclined to work, activity or exertion. Generally speaking, Americans like people who get things done; not people who are constantly trying to get out of work. In fact, in the sociology classes I teach, we go over the top ten values of Americans every year and activity and work are always right at the top of the list. So being lazy is seen as a character flaw and is to be avoided.

Zippia, whose website defines the company as being 'The Career Expert', compiles lists based, in their words, 'on science and data' to classify certain towns under certain categories and they do this for states all across the country, from the laziest to the smartest and the hardest working. These lists can be found by going to Zippia.com on the Internet.

Their latest compilation includes the ten laziest towns in Nebraska. They contend that this list, like all their other lists, are based on science and data without any personal opinions that would influence the final tally. Their methodology, taken from the Census, included the lowest average hours worked per week, the shortest commute time, the fewest workers per household, the highest unemployment rate and the fewest adults with a college degree. They analyzed 32 towns in Nebraska with populations over 5000 and listed their top ten as follows:

1. McCook

2. North Platte

3. Alliance

4. Scottsbluff

5. South Sioux City

6. Nebraska City

7. Crete

8. Schuyler

9. Beatrice

10. Hastings

On the other side of the coin was Gretna, listed as the hardest working town in Nebraska.

So McCook finally ranks number one in something although, as already mentioned, it's not a goal most people aspire towards. McCook's numbers were population, 7670, people with a college education (Bachelor's degree, not Associates) 17.6 percent, and an unemployment rate of 5.9 percent. The website asserts these numbers were taken from the very latest update of the Census Bureau and are as accurate as possible.

Their conclusions assert that McCook is a place where people don't work, where a good education is rare and where few people are willing to put in long hours to bring home the bacon.

W.I. Thomas, a famous sociologist, says that perception is reality because whatever we perceive to be true is true for us. If we believe in a God and trust that he answers prayer, then for us it's true. If we believe in ghosts, then ghosts are real to us. If we believe we're being visited by aliens from outer space, no one can convince us differently. And if we believe the government is going to swoop down on us one day in black helicopters, take all of our guns and declare martial law, we treat that as a fact too.

I've never thought McCook to be a lazy town. Most of the people I know work, although it's true that's the kind of people I associate with. We only know from our own experience or what the facts tells us and some people play really loose with what they think are the facts. I know a few people that work harder trying to get OUT of work than they would if they would just do the job and I'm sure you do too. McCook is an elitist town with the in-crowd tough to penetrate but that's true of most towns and surely wouldn't lead to a 'lazy' definition.

I suppose the shortest commute time was seen as a derogatory item because driving to work and home from work is seen, in fact, as work so the shorter your commute time, the less you work. The other criteria are pretty understandable, if they're correct. I thought our college educated population would be higher and our unemployment rate lower but it wasn't and those two things contributed greatly to McCook winning the prize. Human nature makes us proud of good things and skeptical of bad ones and I'm sure most of you feel the same way.

It's still my home town as it is yours and I'll always be proud to say I'm from McCook, no matter how others define us.