Adventure: Mississippi trip II
I am back from Mississippi.
It truely was an adventure. I took Greyhound out. That kind of sucked. I left at 3 am and reached Mississippi at noon. I only slept about an hour on the bus. The last hour I was on the bus I kept falling asleep and having those falling dreams where you spaz awake. The guy I was sitting next to made fun of me about that. :P
I reached Mississippi and hung out with my friend from the slammer, Big House.
People in rural mississippi seem quite poor. Most people lived in either what would be considered a lower middle-class brick home in Dallas, a worn trailer home, or what to my eye looked like condemned homes. It was eye-opening to realize how sheltered of a life I have lived in that regard.
The soil has a heavy clay content. It is a dusty and a brick orange color. Land is extremely fertile and appears to get a lot of rain. It was interesting discussing the landscape with Big House and her friends. I had remarked how I was amazed at how green and lush this section of new growth was that we passed. Big House thought it was extremely ugly having lived there her whole life. She bemoaned the loss of the older, taller trees. It is interesting how our different life experience affected our perspectives.
It is an interesting area. There are few jobs around. The best jobs can be had at the two casinos on the Native American Reservation. It was interesting to hear Big House's brother talk about that tribe and say, "Man they've got it easy". Interesting to hear from a white man. It pleases me that so many tribes are getting into the Casino business and their members are become quite prosperous.
The nicest homes appeared to all be on the reservation.
Culturally, Mississippi was odd. It seemed like everyone I met who was over the age of 16 (except for myself and Big House) had kids with 2 or 3 people or had been married a few times. Is that what America is really like?
We stayed with a lovely lady named Tina. She was very sweet and playful.
On the last day I was there Hurricane Ivan rolled into town. Since Tina lives in a trailer home and it was not secure and they cancelled all buses to mississippi, we drove to Arkansas to skip the storm.
The trip to Arkansas was fun. We talked about a ton of stuff. I saw Kudzu for the first time. It is really amazing the way is just swallows forrests in it's vines. If that stuff ever hits the great plains, we are all screwed.
So on the bus on the way home I almost got into a fight with some bald guy who was being a dick to the bus driver. I have to put up with loud mouths on the phones at work, but I feel no reason to tolerate them if I am not being paid.
I got back to Dallas and stood outside the bus stop waiting for my ride. None of the Dallas crazies messed with me. I think that was due to one of three possible reasons. 1) I looked tough, studly, and scary (not likely) ; 2) I looked like a penniless homeless person (more likely than 1); or 3) I smelled like a homeless person (sadly, entirely possible as at that point i hadn't showered in the last 40 hours or so...).
It truely was an adventure. I took Greyhound out. That kind of sucked. I left at 3 am and reached Mississippi at noon. I only slept about an hour on the bus. The last hour I was on the bus I kept falling asleep and having those falling dreams where you spaz awake. The guy I was sitting next to made fun of me about that. :P
I reached Mississippi and hung out with my friend from the slammer, Big House.
People in rural mississippi seem quite poor. Most people lived in either what would be considered a lower middle-class brick home in Dallas, a worn trailer home, or what to my eye looked like condemned homes. It was eye-opening to realize how sheltered of a life I have lived in that regard.
The soil has a heavy clay content. It is a dusty and a brick orange color. Land is extremely fertile and appears to get a lot of rain. It was interesting discussing the landscape with Big House and her friends. I had remarked how I was amazed at how green and lush this section of new growth was that we passed. Big House thought it was extremely ugly having lived there her whole life. She bemoaned the loss of the older, taller trees. It is interesting how our different life experience affected our perspectives.
It is an interesting area. There are few jobs around. The best jobs can be had at the two casinos on the Native American Reservation. It was interesting to hear Big House's brother talk about that tribe and say, "Man they've got it easy". Interesting to hear from a white man. It pleases me that so many tribes are getting into the Casino business and their members are become quite prosperous.
The nicest homes appeared to all be on the reservation.
Culturally, Mississippi was odd. It seemed like everyone I met who was over the age of 16 (except for myself and Big House) had kids with 2 or 3 people or had been married a few times. Is that what America is really like?
We stayed with a lovely lady named Tina. She was very sweet and playful.
On the last day I was there Hurricane Ivan rolled into town. Since Tina lives in a trailer home and it was not secure and they cancelled all buses to mississippi, we drove to Arkansas to skip the storm.
The trip to Arkansas was fun. We talked about a ton of stuff. I saw Kudzu for the first time. It is really amazing the way is just swallows forrests in it's vines. If that stuff ever hits the great plains, we are all screwed.
So on the bus on the way home I almost got into a fight with some bald guy who was being a dick to the bus driver. I have to put up with loud mouths on the phones at work, but I feel no reason to tolerate them if I am not being paid.
I got back to Dallas and stood outside the bus stop waiting for my ride. None of the Dallas crazies messed with me. I think that was due to one of three possible reasons. 1) I looked tough, studly, and scary (not likely) ; 2) I looked like a penniless homeless person (more likely than 1); or 3) I smelled like a homeless person (sadly, entirely possible as at that point i hadn't showered in the last 40 hours or so...).
posted by The Tobidian at 7:12 PM
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