Science

My parents were disappointed that I chose a college so far from home. But I wanted the *BEST* education I could get, and knew that college was only four years (three in my case, since I transferred credits) away from my family, after which I would be in a *MUCH* better position to find a job and thus much better chance to choose where I would live. PLUS getting out of the South was a BIG part of seeing more of the civilized world, and learning 'how things are done' elsewhere. I had met only a dozen or so (no exaggeration) non-white people, and not sure if I ever met anyone Jewish before I left for college. Certainly no Muslims. On campus, I saw more children of interracial couples than I had ever known existed (still a verboten subject where and when I grew up, but I later realized it went on a lot there, just not very publicly). I ended up with a Jewish roommate and several Muslim dormmates and I was fine with it. Never asked family how they felt about it (I know my *immediate* family would have been OK but not all members of my extended family, who are largely Southern).

My first teaching job took me back to the South, after 20 years away, and I found the omnipresence of "Christian" influence stifling. "What church do you attend ?" is considered a social icebreaker in most parts of the South, and my "What makes you assume I attend a church ?" wouldn't be very welcome, so I tended to say "Do I look like I attend church ?" (I mostly don't -- look that way, that is) or "No church would have me!" accompanied by a chuckle.

Salaries for academics are much higher elsewhere, even allowing for local costs of living. Our state and local taxes are among the very lowest in the country, and local taxes, of course, fund schools. Local voters seem to prefer depriving their own children of a good education to paying even slightly more in taxes. I had hoped that things might have improved some after 20 years, but they plainly haven't, at least not beyond a superficial level. People are only as "modern" as far as the law requires, and not one iota more.

I'm dying to get out again, before that phrase becomes too literal, but don't seem to have much chance to do so. Red-state thinking has spread to the whole country, and opportunities for academics are going the way of Autumn leaves. Enjoy them while they last, it won't be long.