Georgia

Currently Listening To: This Is Montreal by Matt Pond PA
Recently, I was thinking back to a conversation with my family, wherein it was concluded I am an awful person for not embracing my Southern-ness and the whole Southern culture. At the time, I couldn't think of a truly good reason why I didn't identify as a Southerner. But as I thought more and more about it, there are several reasons why:

• Gas holiday. After Katrina, Gov. Perdue cancelled school for most of Georgia for two days to ease the rising gas prices, apparently assuming that kids don't go outside when they get school off.
• Rebel flag. Pretty much everything about the flag debate reflects poorly on the P-Nut, P-Can State.
• Jennifer Wilbanks. The runaway bride, who blamed her "kidnapping" on a fictional white and Hispanic couple. The fact that the groom decided to continue their engagement only made things worse.
• Brian Nichols/Ashley Smith. Sure, people go on killing sprees a lot. Not a good thing, but doesn't make Georgia stand out from other states. What does? The media's worship of Ms. Smith, who sedated him by giving him meth. Normally, if the police knew you had meth, that would be very, very bad. But she stopped a killer with her meth, so she gets a book deal.
• Bobby Brown and Whitney's TV show. Doodie bubble.
• I'm realizing a lot of these aren't really Good Ol' Southern Boys, either. Case in point, my next examaple, Marcus Dixon. Accused of raping a 16 yearold, throwing away his scholarship options. Later turned out that her dad was involved in the Klan, and she may not have been raped. Made worse by Oprah making Rome, GA, look like a town with regular Klan marches.
• Kid who, last week, was tazed by a school security guard for beating up a girl. Classy.

So this is why I'm not proud to be from Georgia. That and the fact that being born isn't an achievment.