We’re Not in Kansas: Timothy on A New Day

On the Metro yesterday morning, we were squeezed to the right and squeezed to the left, but overall, everyone maintained their good humor. Someone asked the couple standing next to me where they were from. The man plan replied, Argentina. Why are you in town, the question came. For this, the man replied, for this.

A bit later, I went to Cosi (a coffee place) to get a muffin and cup of joe. There were two lines at the cashier, and as I was paying, the cashier asked the other person, Where you from.
Kansas, the woman (a middle-aged black woman) answered.
Oh, I interjected, I grew up in Kansas. Where do you live?
Topeka, she responded. I was born in Hutchinson, I replied.
So was I, she continued.
St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, I asked.
Why yes, that’s where I was born.
Then she said, in true Dorothyesque style, This isn’t ANYTHING like Kansas.

This piece originally appeared as a comment on In the Eye: A New Day.