Once upon a time, there was a woman who found herself living in the deep south. She wasn’t from there. She didn’t really fit in. She stubbornly refused to adopt a southern accent, and it was pointed out on occasion by various people she interacted with. “Where are you from?” they’d ask.
Depending on her mood, she’d answer Michigan, New Jersey, or Massachusetts. All were true, to a point. Born in Michigan, formative years in Jersey, and graduated high school in New England. She definitely did not have a childhood anything like many of the people she knew. She found many people, especially in rural America, lived relatively sheltered lives, even in this age of global connectivity. They have lived in the same relative area their entire lives, and often their parents and grandparents grew up there, as well. They went to school with the same group of kids from kindergarten through high school. They have had the same neighbors for years on end. And they hear the same ideas, political, religious, and social, in every direction. One has to consciously look for dissenting opinions in a homogeneous society. That is not a comfortable thing to do, and most people prefer to be comfortable.
Moving frequently as a child and young adult meant that the protagonist in our little story here was repeatedly confronted with people who didn’t think like her. Different backgrounds, different groups of peers, and different experiences led to different outlooks. The new kid on the block always feels the differences, and our Yankee in Robert E Lee’s Garden never felt them more strongly than when the southern culture shock set in.
After graduating to “official adulthood”, this woman had settled in to life in the south as best she could. She was raising her kids – kids who articulated their words in a peculiar way according to those who heard them. Clearly raised by a Yankee, and a former English teacher at that. She would deny any hint that she was “from” Mississippi vehemently, but she was ok living there. She would always claim any other place she’d ever lived as her origin before she claimed the south. In 2018, though, she realized that she had lived more of her life in Mississippi than in all the other places combined.
Why did she resist claiming the state so desperately? Maybe it was time to open her eyes and her arms and embrace fully the fact that, though she was from elsewhere, Mississippi was home. Home to a liberal, secular, freethinking Yankee.
My name is James, at the time of writing this introduction I’m 26 years old. I’ve lived in North Mississippi my entire life. I was born to a nurse and a farmer; the most stereo-typically Southern married couple in the world, except for the fact that they’re anything but. My parents are in my opinion, some of the most understanding and chill people in the world.
Now, even though the turtles in other forms of media have had their ups and downs, the comics have usually been consistent and the new things they have tried have usually been well-received. I am a huge fan of what IDW has done with them. My personal advice to any TMNT fans out there that aren’t too thrilled by the new cartoon or movies go and pick up IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Ok, here is my first article (Me selling myself to you the reader). You started reading even though I said you didn’t have to. Thanks! Now for starters I am Chris because my mom told me I was. I am 33 yrs young and am glad being a geek is cool. I am a comic book reader and collector. I’ve owned a comic Book store in the Tupelo area for 4 years. I love music, not just one genre and all sorts of movies. That does include some B horror films nobody has heard of. I will make a list of some good ones.
If you have any suggestions on future content you can reach me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/poe.poz , on Twitter @Poepoz , or on Reddit r/poepoz so I can respond with my next article. Until next time.
