Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Ethos of MidMO

I often long for the years when I lived in midtown Atlanta. I was there from 1982 to 1996. There are so many things I miss about that urban setting. The diversity of people. My many, dear friends. The progressive attitudes. (John Lewis was my U.S. Rep.) The marvelous variety of restaurants. And did I mention the marvelous diversity of people and their progressive attitudes?

Now I am in central Missouri. And thanks to Grandmère Mimi, I now know that Missourians rank 38th on the “happiness scale” of the 50 states. That’s true for me. There are at least 37 other places in which I would rather reside. But, alas, my very good, satisfying, and rewarding job keeps me in this miserable place.

Here's a case in point.

On November 1, our little town instituted mandatory trash removal and curbside recycling. I was delighted! Finally, I had a bin in which I could put my recycling and wheel it out to the curb … while before I had to collect and sort it, then drive it to a recycling center periodically. Now, we all have two blue trash bins – one for trash and one for recycling. … Mind you, Atlanta did this back in the early ‘90s. My little mid-Missouri town is just now getting around to it.
I am absolutely astonished by the number of people in my town who are outraged that the city is foisting this “Communist Plot” – this Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy upon them. The local newspaper is full of the fulminations. Sheesh!
They are livid that they should be asked to separate their trash from their recyclables.
They are livid that they have to pay $2 more per month for curbside recycling.
Now a group has formed to try to reverse this reasonable move.
These people are Neanderthals. There’s no other way to put it. What a bunch of idiots.

This week, I was chatting with a friend who viewed these things as I do. We suddenly hit upon a solution: The city should have issued bins in “camo” décor. Given the number of hunters and rednecks around here, we bet they would have embraced this new system as God’s Own Will … if only the city had issued trash and recycling bins in “deer-hunting camouflage décor.”

Mind you, not everyone in this town is an idiot or genetic throwback. There are many good people. [How come most of them are Episcopalians? ] But, by and large, I am living in the shallow end of the gene pool.

Wouldn’t you know? Just as I was pondering the benighted, backward, camo-worshipping ethos of my current home, a friend send me a photo of his cousin’s Christmas decoration.

This says it all. This is not Photo-Chopped. This is an actual photo a friend sent to me of his cousin’s “Chrismas” decoration.




That pretty much says it all, I think.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You'll just have to visit St. Louis more often.

1/05/2010 1:36 PM  
Blogger Lisa Fox said...

The StL trips keep me sane! Without them, I fear I would be in despair.

BTW, I hope you'll warmly greet my friend Marc next Sunday morning. Grace's loss is Trinity's gain!

Thanks for dropping by.

1/05/2010 5:00 PM  

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