Hillbilly

Like many Romans, I work outside of the city. I think Friday was a day many of us had to use our navigation skills (and GPS for me) to find a route in the Mohawk Valley that was not pooled with water. When I told one co-worker about my fairly long distance from work and the lack of chain restaurants near me, he called me a "redneck."

I don't think redneck really applies to anyone in the Northeast, especially with Rome's legendary cloud cover. Also, this city is enormous geographically, so it's preassembled urban sprawl. In my case, however, I live near a farm and see cows on my way to work on a regular basis. I might call myself a hillbilly, especially since I live on an elevated part of the city.

I've run into my share of low income people, ex-cons, white rappers and a few unwed (and more pre-wed) mothers. Frankly, I'm plenty smart but I've kind of slacked off in my daily affairs. I have learned not to be too judgmental about people's position. I reserve the right to dispute people's decisions.