Ever feel like you’re stuck somewhere you don’t belong? Growing up as a kid, I remember most of my time in south Georgia. It’s in the middle of absolutely nowhere, so I was always out in the sticks. My friends and I were always building forts in the woods with miscellaneous things we could find. Or we would go out and hunt squirrels and rabbits with a .22 and bring back some dinner for my dad to cook. It may seem savage to some of you cityfolk, but it was life for me as a child. Life was so much simpler back in those days.
Time really does slip away. It seems almost like yesterday when I went down to the hunting cabin to just ride four wheelers rather than actually hunt. Now I’m in the city living all by myself. I get to balance all of the stresses of school, work, and city life. Joy. This weekend was actually my first weekend staying in Atlanta in a while. I usually leave for the mountains, which are 2 hours north, or take a trip home, which is 2 hours south. An escape from the concrete jungle is incredibly beneficial for my soul. There’s a million things that bring peace to me when I’m away. For example, whoever said “the city never sleeps” really wasn’t lying. There’s always a constant dull roar of tires on asphalt since my apartment is near I-75. It’s something that I spent 18 of my years without, so it’s going to take a hot minute for me to get used to it. Another thing that’s a breath of fresh air is the stars. Since the majority of people live in the city, being able to see the stars is probably one of those natural beauties that’s sacrificed for the comfort of the human. I’m talking about light pollution. It’s pretty thick up here. To me, standing on top of a mountain or in the middle of a field with a sky full of stars and a breeze with a little bite is about the most invigorating experience for my soul.
Another one of the GLORIES of city life is that you apparently leave southern hospitality at the city limits. Rudeness is everywhere in hotlanta. Driving on the highway can be pretty cutthroat at times, and fewer people will hold the door for the person behind them. A more specific example happened to me literally 5 minutes prior to writing this post. So I’m sitting in a coffee shop as I type on my laptop, right (cause I’m such a hipster, yuhh). The table I’m at isn’t near a wall outlet for me to plug up my outlet, and my laptop is running at about 30% battery. I’m looking around for an outlet, but all the ideal tables are taken. A couple guys start packing out, and on their way, one of them tells me, “hey bro, our table has an outlet. I saw ya looking for one.” Ah, what a guy. Now the coffee shop isn’t much bigger than the average kitchen, so anyone with any sense of situational awareness would have heard the verbal exchange between the two of us. But no, as soon as I look up after shutting my laptop, this middle aged black woman gets up from her table (which was a bit closer to the recently vacated one than mine) and starts moving all of her stuff to the table I was just offered. Wow, okay cool. I wasn’t offered that table or anything. Thanks, hope you catch on fire. Another table with access to an outlet was soon opened up, so I didn’t lose progress on anything, but still, that kind of behavior grinds my gears.
So needless to say, I’ll be trying to get out of here this weekend. I don’t see anyone trying to steal my table if I’m up in the mountains. Some time spent wandering the path less traveled will be nice for the soul.
Cheers,
Ryan