My friend James for one of the few times ever, on June 29th 2009 7:20pm, made plans with me and made it there on time! Nay, early!
Archive for June, 2009
It’s 2009, and I’m still a little surprised whenever I run into someone who doesn’t believe that Atlanta is the void of the South. We have a perimeter around the city, I-285. This perimeter separates us from those with the area code 770, and better yet, 706. Inside the perimeter (ITP), we are cosmopolitan. Outside the perimeter (OTP), they appreciate the law that forbids the sale of alcohol on Sunday. Their accent is stereotypical. ITP, I run into more Indian and East Asian accents than I do Southern. Think about that one: there are more people willing to travel thousands of miles to ITP than just 30 miles from OTP. I can’t believe that we who are ITP still have to succum to a stereotype surrounds us geographically.
Disclaimer: There are many exceptions to OTP-ers from what I’ve said here, but it doesn’t detract from my point: Atlanta is the void of the South!
I feel resentful when I plan more events than I get invited to, that I wasn’t accepted into others’ lives when I tried to dive right in, when I give more than I take, when others have difficulty understanding me, that I don’t have enough time to do everything…
… and it’s such an ugly feeling and I wish it would go away.
King, me, and 3 others in my lab won an award at CDC this morning. The award is in excellence in “partners in public health.” King accepted for our lab, and we had a good picture taken when we got back. I’m going to wear my suite and ribbon all day long now.
