Memphis is my home base location and I know it like the back of my hand, therefore I'm local in general. Specifically knowing instinctively how to get somewhere without thinking, knowing why someone won't look you in the eye for varied reasons, knowing that music is the life blood and common denominator in a place where racial strife still exists, knowing that 'bless your heart' isn't a concern for another's well being but a subtle statement of disagreement, knowing the heartbeat of the Bluff city is the Mighty Mississippi that flows below. These are learned over time by intuition, observation, and experience. Individuals become part of the whole in the ways listed and expressed in your story, but at their own pace irregardless of duration of stay or approval of others.
We're traveling, with no plans of achieving the hallowed "local" badge anytime soon, but i believe a local is someone the other residents of a town can recognize as someone who is reliable, who makes a good member of the community. Some need a little longer, some don't. The important thing is to try, even if you're just "passing by" like us, or like The Crusher in the Bugs Bunny cartoon...(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o842Aco7kj8 – at about 3:01 8^))
Back in the 1970s I took Serbo-Croatian from an adjunct professor of languages who traveled to Dubrovnik annually. Once in conversation he described a conversation with the matriarch of his adoptive family there. "We're still considered newcomers here", she told him. "Oh. How long has your family been here?" "Only 900 years", she replied.
This encourages me to look at whether I consider being a local in the town that I live in. Whether if you live in one place, yet call another home? Are you a local in either?
I’d highlight what you wrote under Loyalty and Immersion and say it’s about giving back and getting involved. I think that’s part of the knock against remote workers--they should do more to serve the community beyond spending money & paying taxes. My husband and I discuss this a lot because he runs a company in another state from home, so he’s tried to balance that out with service in a local nonprofit.
Lived in a small town in the Idaho mountains most of my life and I still have the same questions you write about. Hang in and at some point when asked if you're local, someone else will pipe in and say "Yeah, she's local?.
Memphis is my home base location and I know it like the back of my hand, therefore I'm local in general. Specifically knowing instinctively how to get somewhere without thinking, knowing why someone won't look you in the eye for varied reasons, knowing that music is the life blood and common denominator in a place where racial strife still exists, knowing that 'bless your heart' isn't a concern for another's well being but a subtle statement of disagreement, knowing the heartbeat of the Bluff city is the Mighty Mississippi that flows below. These are learned over time by intuition, observation, and experience. Individuals become part of the whole in the ways listed and expressed in your story, but at their own pace irregardless of duration of stay or approval of others.
We're traveling, with no plans of achieving the hallowed "local" badge anytime soon, but i believe a local is someone the other residents of a town can recognize as someone who is reliable, who makes a good member of the community. Some need a little longer, some don't. The important thing is to try, even if you're just "passing by" like us, or like The Crusher in the Bugs Bunny cartoon...(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o842Aco7kj8 – at about 3:01 8^))
Back in the 1970s I took Serbo-Croatian from an adjunct professor of languages who traveled to Dubrovnik annually. Once in conversation he described a conversation with the matriarch of his adoptive family there. "We're still considered newcomers here", she told him. "Oh. How long has your family been here?" "Only 900 years", she replied.
This encourages me to look at whether I consider being a local in the town that I live in. Whether if you live in one place, yet call another home? Are you a local in either?
I’d highlight what you wrote under Loyalty and Immersion and say it’s about giving back and getting involved. I think that’s part of the knock against remote workers--they should do more to serve the community beyond spending money & paying taxes. My husband and I discuss this a lot because he runs a company in another state from home, so he’s tried to balance that out with service in a local nonprofit.
I hope you joined the Friends of the Library! :-)
Lived in a small town in the Idaho mountains most of my life and I still have the same questions you write about. Hang in and at some point when asked if you're local, someone else will pipe in and say "Yeah, she's local?.
So alive - love this one...full of connectivity and loose ends.
Lovely piece. Thanks!