Let's Play the Feud!

People are different here in Stinkin' Lincoln. I am not referring to people I know, but people in general. Lincolnites, if you will. They seem to have a chip on their shoulder. Maybe it is an inferiority complex that is ingrained into Lincoln society. They try to compete with Omaha in everything. "Well, if they have a convention center, we need one, too." "Well, if they have the Old Market, we will have the Hay Market." My theory is that it all goes back to 1867. That is the year the town of Lancaster became Lincoln, named after the recently assassinated president, Abe. The story behind that goes a little something like this:

In the Nebraska Territory during the mid-1800's, the majority of the population resided south of the Platte river. Due to this fact, many south of the Platte felt it might be best to become part of the Kansas Territory. To quell this move, Territory government offered to move the capitol to Lancaster. Now, here is the part that I feel has left a bitter taste in the mouths of the people of Lincoln to this day. Of course, Omaha did not want to lose it seat of Territory capitol. Ever the intelligent bunch, Omahans devised a plan to put the kibosh on the capitol being moved. Apparently, folks south of the Platte, were Confederate sympathizers. (I always wondered why there are so few African-Americans here.) Being keenly aware of this, a representative of Omaha said that if the capitol was to move, Lancaster should be re-named after the late-great President Lincoln. Much to Omaha's surprise, Lancaster representatives were the ones to second this motion.

I think the people of Lincoln have resented the fact that Omaha forced them to take on the name of a man that most of them despised. That resentment has been handed down generation to generation without anyone even being aware. Now, keep in mind this is all theory. But, why is it the preponderance of Lincoln feel Omaha is such a terrible place. The feeling is Omaha is filled with crime no matter where you are, it's dirty, and ironically, it's traffic is terrible. When Omaha is growing like a morel mushroom, I hear people in Lincoln saying how much faster Lincoln is growing than Omaha. Quite possibly the most telling thing about Lincoln's aversion to Omaha is how in spite of there being more square miles available in Lancaster county to the north of Lincoln, they continue to encourage growth in the south side of town. For those of my readers that are geography-challenged, that would be in the opposite direction of Omaha.

It's such a shame Lincoln and Omaha cannot learn to like each other. LinOma could be such an awesome place. But like the lion's share of things in this world, politics gets in the way. Imagine LinOma International Airport. Imagine the NFL's LinOma Tornadoes playing at LinOma Stadium. Imagine LinOma beach... oh, I guess that already exists, but imagine a really super cool LinOma beach! The possibilities are endless. But until the hatchet is buried between these to cities, all we will have is the LinOma feud. (Which Omaha will always win!) Can't we all just get along?