Anklo blog

If you order Key Lime Pie and it’s served smothered in raspberry sauce… you might be in Kingsport.

If your pint of Guinness comes in a frozen glass with an icy head… you might be in Kingsport.

If one of the cereal choices on the breakfast bar is “Raisen Bran”… you might be in Kingsport.

On the other hand, if you’re in a shoe store that carries Birkenstock, Ecco, Dansko, Josef Siebel, Earth, and more… you might be in Kingsport. Really. I can’t explain it, but it’s true. Shoozies in Ft. Henry Mall.

The Hunt brothers at lunch.

It rained all day. Wrecks everywhere. Got to Kingsport late. Blah.

At dinner, we were seated in the same area as a group of about 12 people that were co-workers and spouses having a holiday get together. But remember, this is Kingsport. After about two minutes of watching and listening to them, I whispered to Maria that we had stumbled into a meeting of Larry the Cable Guy‘s fan club. Of the seven men, all had beards, four wore caps, one had a mullet, and one looked like Kenny Rogers in the 70′s.

A few minutes later, my daughter said “those guys sound like Mater” and I nearly fell in the floor.

… and I’m not talking about Science Fiction. We had a movie marathon this week related to one of Maria’s classes. I had an overload of racism, corruption, and violence. We began with Training Day starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. Next up was American History X with Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. Last we had Four Brothers led by Mark Wahlberg.

All of these films were set in places that I don’t want to believe exist, but I know that they do. Places where there are gun fights in broad daylight. Places were your life is in real jeopardy simply because of your skin color. Places where you can be ruined if you don’t sell yourself.

I don’t think I could survive in any of them.