Wow, from one assumption to another. I won't pretend Arkansas isn't a bit backwood, it depends on your location within the state. I won't even pretend that their general education from public schools is average. The state is piss-poor yes, they only recently added a 2nd lane to their interstate system. But there are some great schools here as well, we even have universities!
NYJ replies: I am currently living in West Virginia, mainly so that I could find a house and land that I could afford to buy without a mortgage that was close enough to DC. Compared to West Virginia, Arkansas is a hub of culture, the epitome of tolerance, and an oasis of learning!
To top it all off there is a thriving gay community in Arkansas, a cultural district with galleries and theatres for perfroming arts.
NYJ replies: Oh, are you implying that straight people have no culture or appreciation of the arts? I am not aware that such is exclusive to the gay community. Who is being chauvinistic now?
The state is the buckle of the bible belt though and their tolerance is a bit on the low end of the spectrum. Because someone is from Arkansas doesn't make them less of a person and they will not have a hard time succeeding here or anywhere for that matter.
NYJ replies: You could have said that you agree with my assessment of the ability of the average Arkansawyer to tolerate lifestyles that divert from Bible-belt norms in fewer words. I did not say that an Arkansawyer is less of a person (so remove that chip from your shoulder). However, you might admit that they will have a harder time to adapt to the big-city environment than city folk. And, my mother's life experience is proof, if you don't believe that such adaptation is an uphill road
I would hope that this attack on Arkansas isn't stemming from my choice of words in the previous thread as opposed to your choice of verb.
NYJ replies: I misspelled denigrate, so we are even. William Faulkner had a way with words and he was a Southron! I knew what you were trying to say, you just chose the wrong word. Surely, you are old enough to accept a little constructive and instructive criticism? (I am old enough, but don't call me, Shirley!)
Incidentally, New York isn't the hub of literacy and education either so be careful when casting stones. I can say this with some authority having visited the city many times. I am originally from Baltimore, having moved here only 3 years ago, so I am all to well of the cultural, educational and economic differences in Arkansas versus a thriving metropolis.
NYJ replies: Baltimore was for years considered the foremost city of the South and, as I said, it was my mother's first stop upon leaving Arkansas. However, I submit that the New York Public Library, Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (plus too many museums to list here, like the Guggenheim, Museum of Modern Art, etc.) cannot be equaled in any American city (except, perhaps, for DC) and are only matched by European capitals such as London and Paris. Perhaps Boston has as many prominent colleges and universities as New York City, but even there, I believe that Manhattan has much to be proud of, and if you include the rest of the state, well, I really don't need to go on, do I?
And I love the cute way you refer to the Arkansans as Arkansawyers, an intentional slap in the face. After all, we are all straw hat wearing, barefoot, pipe-smoking racoon huntin', cat-skinnin' rednecks.
NYJ replies: I was not trying to be "cute." Arkansawyer is an acceptable term, used by Arkansawyer and Southern writers, and is in no way denigrating to people from Arkansas. As for the redneck appelation, methinks thee doth protest too much!
Be less gung ho about New York, I know you love the city, but man makes the town, the town doesn't make the man.[/QUOTE]
NYJ replies: I yam what I yam, because I yam from Manhattan! Any place else, just doesn't equate!
NewYorkjoe