Road Trip

For Steve and Yudan. Happy Anniversary! – From my travel log, "Long drives are made in short time with good friends."

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While watching Carolina dispose of Florida in the College World Series tonight, I was reminded of where I was approximately one year ago – sitting in a bar in Austin, Texas watching Carolina dispose of some other team in the College World Series. This time last year I was helping my friend Steve move from Atlanta to San Diego. It was a once in a lifetime road trip – a week with my friend driving from shining city to shining city. We took the standard Atlanta – New Orleans – Austin – Tucson – San Diego route…those in the know might notice that we made a couple diversions from the most direct path – just don't tell our wives. I made a few notes along the way…here are a few excerpts with updated commentary:

Monday, June 28, 2010: "New Orleans is the armpit of the South. It was a dirty, defiled city before Katrina – it is a dirtier, defiled city after." People have some false imagination about this town – maybe it had a heyday, but it hasn't been in the last four or five decades. My best memory of the town was the time I had lunch with Bart Ehrman – he was way at the other end of the table, but we were both having lunch…it counts.

As I recall, Steve and I took a cab to Bourbon Street…it was raining…we both agreed Savannah was a hell of a lot nicer town. We visited the Gumbo Shop for dinner – I attempted to pay with my BP Visa, but Steve suggested that might not go down too well given the whole oil-spill thing going on at the time. We took pictures at St. Michael's, ate beignets at Café Du Monde, and then closed down a small Irish bar (okay, I'm exaggerating…we had two beers, watched the Braves game, and went back to the Marriott by 10p).

Tuesday, June 29, 2010: "By way of contrast, Austin is one of the truly fine towns." After driving across the Bayou and through Houston (the town that never ends), Austin was a welcome site. We walked around the University of Texas campus…found an open door at Texas Memorial Stadium and roamed around the UT athletic offices a bit – very cool.

After having dinner at Stubbs BBQ we headed out to Sixth Street and settled in at "The Library" (picture above) to watch the College World Series. That is where we met "John" – the stereotypical college male. The one-way conversation went something like this:

"Dude…you're from Atlanta! I love Atlanta, man!…lot of hot chicks there, man!…Dude, I gotta get liquored up tonight, man! [I awarded him bonus points for including both 'dude' and 'man' in the same sentence] I have got to get laid tonight, man!"

I said, "Okay, man." He then engaged me in some sort of male fist bumping ritual and disappeared into the smoky darkness of the bar. I thought about my wife and kids – glad to be a happily married man just taking in a ballgame at the bar.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010: "Everything IS bigger in Texas. Driving through the vast, open and mountainous Big Bend area of West Texas, I've never felt so small." Passing through El Paso was a great joy after enduring 400 miles of near wilderness in West Texas. I counted three Starbucks – we hadn't seen three trees in the last eight hours – but, I wondered who in the world would want to drink hot coffee there. El Paso was a harsh looking town, but as we drew close to the Rio Grande, and close enough to see Juarez, Mexico, it began to seem brilliant by comparison. The contrast from one side of the river to the other was devastatingly bleak. The cinder-block 'homes' spotting the hillside were a reminder that poverty has no limits to its descent. It only takes one look to realize why so many risk so much to enter and live illegally in the United States. "Immigration reform is needed, but more than that, social transformation is needed – how can U.S. citizens assist Mexican citizens in making their land a place where they experience a reasonable quality of life?"

After 16 hours of near non-stop driving we arrived in Tucson, AZ. There I experienced what they mean by a 'dry heat.' We found a Boston Market…unfortunately they were out of chicken! So, we walked around the University of Arizona campus and searched for food…we ate and then slept – it's amazing how much energy a drive that long takes out of you. We woke up at 5 AM, by 5:30 it was hot enough to fry an egg on the street…100+ degrees!!! We left town quickly…California dreaming.

Thursday, July 1, 2010: "Ascended to over 4000 feet before coasting downward into San Diego today. We exited the truck into the most glorious 70 degree weather. I barely broke a sweat while we unloaded all of Steve and Yudan's earthly possessions into their new apartment. It felt like a Saturday afternoon in Fall – I kept wondering when the football game would kick-off." San Diego is a beautiful town. Though, the landscape is a bit too brown for me…I'm so used to grass and pine trees. We went to an authentic Chinese restaurant for dinner, Yudan ordered for us – in Chinese, no menu needed. I'd lose a lot of weight if I ate with them regularly – I'm handicapped when it comes to chopsticks, like eating with my right hand tied behind my back.

The next morning we visited La Jolla, then off to the airport…missed the flight (I told you we wouldn't make it in time, Steve!). A blessing in disguise, as we got to spend a few more hours checking out SD.

Friday, July 2, 2010 (on the red-eye!): "Not sure when I'll see Steve again. We've been great friends since the first week of our freshman year at Georgia Tech. The four-day, 2300 mile journey from Atlanta to San Diego only served to make it painfully obvious how far away he is now. There will be no more spontaneous lunches at Boston Market at Druid Hills. No more pre-game meals and pints shared at Gordon Biersch or the Vortex. No more visits to one another's homes – at least not with any regularity. I wish I had made more time for those things when he was so close. I know he and Yudan will do well in California – their new home. Yet, Atlanta will be a great deal more lonely without them." – D. Christian Nix, 6/29/11

Mine’s Bigger than Yours

I'm not sure when it began, but I've developed a habit of saying stupid things out loud. Some have been more regrettable than others. In high school I recall being slapped after noting to a young lady that she was "like an elephant, she remembered everything." The filter between the squeaky wheels in my brain and my mouth is highly unreliable at times – ask my wife.

A brief contemporary history may suffice to prove my point. In a recent meeting with colleagues at work, while negotiating the most mundane project details, my mouth struck again. I said something to the effect of, "let me extend a fig leaf here and propose…" After I finished the sentence, a voice from across the table said, "Damon, if you could keep your fig leaf in place we'd appreciate it…but, I'll take an olive branch if that's what you mean." Not long after, while discussing a business regulation with a client in south Georgia, I described the issue as a "show me yours and I'll show you mine kind of situation" – based on his discomforted body language, I believe he thought I was attempting to proposition him.

My most memorable gaffe occurred during a New Testament course at seminary. After breaking into small groups to work on an assignment, I noticed a fellow student had an edition of the Bible exactly like mine – except smaller and in paperback. Without thinking – as is my custom – I thumped my copy of the sacred scriptures on the table, looked him in the eyes and said, "Mine's bigger than yours!" I think we both blushed a bit – I still laugh hysterically every time I think about it (providing further explanation for my absence from ministerial service).

Certainly, I don't constantly walk around saying dumb things. But in situations where I'm comfortable with my surroundings I have a tendency to let me be me. This doesn't always result in a story I have to live down. On occasion (albeit rare) I've been able to share something that was helpful to another, even if I didn't realize it at the time.

There are those who never say anything seemingly ignorant or crass or untoward – guarding every single word with great care. But, I wonder if the risk of never saying any stupid is never having the opportunity to say anything truly meaningful either?

Jesus said a lot of things that must have sounded insane to those around him. He was constantly going around saying things like, 'your sins are forgiven,' 'you are healed,' and 'the kingdom is near' – things that often seemed to piss people off for one reason or another. He told all these crazy parables that no one seemed to quite understand – then or now. And he even had the audacity to say that we should 'love our enemies.' Yet it is precisely the counter-cultural and unorthodox sayings of Jesus that have made his message so significant for two millennia (no matter how much we Christians have mangled it). Jesus took the risk of saying things that made him a bit unpopular – his death by crucifixion attests to that. But it is precisely those words, spoken by the one John called The Word (1:1), that have meant so much to so many for so long.

Surely there is no analogy between my blabbering and Jesus' timeless message. But, I'm hopeful that by being open enough to say the ridiculous at times, I'll one day be able to risk sharing even a hard truth when it matters most. – D. Christian Nix, 6/23/11