The week we were finishing the home buying process (more on that later, maybe) we had to attend a class oh how to buy a home. Which is not what this post is about.
The classroom (wood-paneled storage room) featured plaques awarded to no one, as far as I can tell, for some odd life skills.
Number of people I've seen walking around with a machete:
California: 0
Tennessee: 1
Number of people in the supermarket who don't seem to get the connection between physique and the contents of their shopping cart:
California: 10%-20%
Tennessee: 80+%
Number of times cops have stopped me to ask if I've seen anyone around fighting:
Tennessee: 2
California: 0
Number of times I've discovered I could afford to buy a house:
California: 0
Tennessee: 1
Number of species of creepy bugs found in my house (not including spiders):
California: 2-3
Tennessee: 5-10
Percentage of musicians:
California: ~10%
Tennessee: 90%
The Beer Lobby shows state pride with Tennessee Beer, complete with Vol Orange packaging. Even just a few short years ago we lived in a world without modern conveniences like this. I don't even want to think about an era like that.
I was doing some tandem web surfing this weekend (you know, 2 people, 2 computers and a lot of "Look at this, look at that") and ended up on the Tennessee Titans website, which features a link to their cheerleader's site. What kind of information would a cheerleading site have, other than pictures? "Something great" I thought and was compelled to click the link.
I figured Bios would be the place to go, and I was right. The bios contain answers to several questions, including "What would you take with you if you were stranded on a desert island" (or something along those lines). Some notable responses out of the 31 Bios:
There were some other doozies including a Genie and a bottomless Coke well. But most importantly only 2 Titans Cheerleaders would think to bring a boat.
We lived in Cleveland during our first stint in Tennessee.
To say that the South is not up to speed on "political correctness" and cultural tolerance and respect would be a serious understatement. Not to imply that everyone in California is empathetic and sensitive to cultural issues and identity - clearly that is not the case.
But in the entire 4-year span we spent in California before moving to Nashville I heard fewer offensive ethnic "impressions" or "impersonations" than I hear in a week here. They're bad, and there isn't a minority group that escapes ridicule.
Not everyone here is like this, I've met a good number of people that exhibit genuine concern and compassion for people of all cultural and economic backgrounds, but if one bad apple can spoil the bunch, what happens if you only get one good apple for every bushel?
