It was just a matter of time...

Some friends had told me about a local shop that had handmade lotions, art, etc. I finally made it down there today and picked up some awesome grapefruit-scented lotion. I was chatting with the owners: blah blah blah, moved here last June, blah blah, the South, blah, Mississippi. And then it happened. I ran into an alum from Ye Olde University. He wasn't a Mississippi native, but he was from the South. And once I found that out, what was left of his accent was amazingly obvious. Thing is, he as a student there during the first year I worked there -- and he worked in the library.

We compared notes, but neither of us remembered the other. He worked in circ and at the time the reference desk as in the back of the library. He had long hair and now he has short hair. We knew some of the same people, but some names we couldn't remember. But in a town that size when you say, "He was that tall quiet guy. Not quiet in the introspective kind of way, but in the serial killer kind of way," you both know exactly who you are talking about.

The view of a university is much different from the perspectives of a student and faculty. He had always wondered what faculty thought of the students. Oh, did I have stories, I told him. I told him a few I had heard from friends, and believe me, there are more. I had just caught up with the local gossip last week, so I was telling him of some of the more recent changes: bars closing, other bars moving (if you are familiar with Ye Olde University, you will know that life revolves around the myriad of bars downtown), new restaurants, retiring administrators, etc. I told him I always firgured at some point I would run into an alum, but I didn't know how long it would take. Turns out it took ten months.

He said what many people say, "If I had to live in Mississippi, I'd live there." Usually followed by "... but I haven't been back since I left." I understand. I told him I think it's a great place to visit and I really look forward to going back to see friends, drink my weight in whatever kind of alcohol is available, and eat. But I could never live there again.

I'm still glad I did, though.