…in a manner of speaking, that is. True, I’m a Southern California girl, but today that’s just a technicality.
Today, on the long flight from Charlotte to San Francisco, I drafted a list of the things I’ll miss about Mobile:
1. My friends & colleagues
2. My job aboard ship
3. My house & my hot tub
4. Bluegrass jam sessions
5. JazzFest (in New Orleans)
It’s a short list.
While my California “valley girl” speech patterns have returned with a sudden vengeance, freed suddenly of the lazy vowels and y’alls I absorbed down south, I discovered today at the airport that I’ve adopted certain elements of Southern custom. Or military manners. I wait patiently, out of the crowd, for luggage and shuttles and older ladies shuffling with canes. I offer assistance to the elderly man and the woman with a baby slung on her chest. I address those senior to me as “sir” and “ma’am” – even though they’re civilians. And I am more content than I thought I could be with unscheduled time, with letting things happen as they may, with opening myself to unexpected possibilities and pleasures.
Or maybe I’ve just grown soft.
2 comments:
One of my favorite things about living in different regions of the country is picking up the positive aspects of each subculture. It sounds like that's been your experience. :)
I look forward to hearing valley girl you - it's been awhile!
Even if sometimes I feel like The Man Without a Country...or Without a State or Hometown
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