The Lexus and the Pothole

I was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. My parents still live there. Recently I actually was interviewed for an article in Mississippi Today about why millennials leave Mississippi. Mississippi is my home and it is where I am writing this blog post. As I think about Mississippi I think about the contradictions that have always existed, but even seem more pronounced now. Mississippi has the nicest people in the world, but also people that continue to elect politicians like James Eastland, Tate Reeves and Cindy Hyde-Smith. 

One contradiction that I keep going over is the Lexus and the pothole. I have zero data to back this up, but the Jackson area seems to have an absurd amount of luxury cars and potholes. People correctly assume Mississippi is a poor state, but it is a poor state with a ton of rich people. There seems to be extreme income inequality that produces a few logical outcomes:

-Jackson public schools have a terrible local reputation. But there are 3 good private schools in the Jackson area. (I went to one of these 3 schools)

-Jackson roads are truly awful with potholes the size of a large dog. But there are plenty of rich Mississipians avoiding their potholes in their luxury cars

-Jackson has wonderful homes, but homes that are surrounded by large gates and I assume elaborate security systems.

-Jackson has a nice Apple store - guarded by police officer with a very visible gun (so not a mall cop by any stretch).

-Mississippians are kind / wonderful people who will welcome you in a way I haven't seen living in Ohio / Minnesota. Mississippians (relative to the rest of the country) also won't get vaccinated. In the past 24 hours I've learned one friend of a friend testing positive for COVID after she refused to get vaccinated. I've learned of two incidents at work where people have come into the office unvaccinated and unmasked and later tested positive for COVID. One of those people was not vaccinated, felt sick and still came into work and eventually passed along to Cover to her coworker. 

It is hard to get over the contradictions. It is hard to reconcile in my mind how much I love Mississippi but can not stand what Mississippians do. At my low moments I shake my fist at the sky and curse the individualist culture here that shows up in their votes, concerns and actions. I don't really know what else to write or if this makes much sense. It is all just so frustrating. 

New Job

One year ago I was working from home for a retailer (Victoria's Secret) in the Finance department. I loved the job, my team, the work and everything besides the drama that is partly COVID and partly pre-COVID related but ultimately means possible layoffs. It likely would have been smart to look for a new job instead of waiting things out, but I didn't want to proactively leave when I thoroughly enjoyed the company and trusted my leaders. 

One year ago I was preparing for a family vacation to the Florida panhandle with my family. We had canceled the first trip due to COVID and only felt comfortable taking this trip due to certain precautions (we all quarantined before the trip). It wasn't the normal place we vacation, but still it was likely going to be a fun trip. 

This year I am also preparing for a family vacation to the Florida panhandle with my family. COVID has thankfully calmed down considerably from last year (even though there are still people who won't get a vaccine which very much confuses me). It is the normal place we vacation and I am sure it will be a great trip.

The big difference is that I am no longer working from home. If you had given me a brief snapshot I would have thought it was because I was let go from Victoria's Secret and then didn't find a job for a year. The first part is true (I was let go), but thankfully it didn't take too long before I found a similar role at DSW. The reason I am no longer working from home is that I quit my job at DSW. I am grateful for the opportunity they gave me and all that I learned, but the reason I could quit was I found a better job leading Testing at Carter's. 

It has been a very strange journey with Carter's. Originally the role needed to be based in Atlanta and I thought it would be my last conversation with them when I said that I needed to be located in Columbus. That changed and now I am going to be fully remote (with trips to Atlanta 6 times a year). I set up a desk / office space yesterday (I've been working from a cardboard table for 1.5 years) and now I am ready to go. The people at Carter's seem like exact kind of coworkers I loved at Victoria's Secret / Honeywell - they are smart, personable, funny and they ask challenging questions without coming across negatively.