Three days

July 29, 2009 in Reflection
Tags: countdown, laziness, New Orleans, pace, the South, time

Three:

I will miss… slower pace of life. New Orleans was the best and worst place to live while completing what became a 218-page master’s project. Since my schedule was flexible, it was easy to go with the flow of others (which were also very flexible.) No one stares you down if you’re five minutes late. When I needed a break, I walked around a part of the city I hadn’t been to before. There’s never a rush to get anywhere so there’s no anxiety over missing out or losing time. When Alex and I sipped our martinis last week, we were pressured to stay rather than pay our bill and leave so they could clean up. My aunt likes to say, “It seems like all we do down here is kill time between meals.” That’s not a bad way to live.

I can do without… slower pace of life. The South has a reputation for being slower and therefore lazier, and less inclined to change and progress. I’ve heard visitors use this complaint to explain why they think New Orleans shouldn’t be rebuilt or won’t become a “modern” city. Although I think that view is too extreme, I’ve experienced frustration because of the slowness of things: waiting 20 minutes at the Post Office because one of the two employees decided to take her break when the line was long, meeting for brunch at 11 and eating at 1:30, waiting 10 minutes for the gas station attendant to finish a conversation with her friend who was visiting, everyone takes the entire week off around Mardi Gras… I get annoyed when I can see a better, easier way to do something than how it’s being done so I was surprised the inefficiency of this city didn’t bother me more. I think this was, in part, because I had the time and flexibility to slow my own life down, just for a short time.