I Got Around
I haven’t always lived in the 509.
By the time I graduated high school, I had attended six schools in three different states (California, Ohio, and Washington). My family frequently moved for my dad’s work. That’s how a young boy ended up with an appreciation for the San Diego Padres, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Seattle Mariners but undying love for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
We moved four times while I was in grade school (twice in Ohio, then twice in California). The summer before junior high, we relocated once more—this time to Spokane. After years of moving around, I felt I’d finally made some friends that I could count on.
Then my parents announced we were moving out of the district the summer before my tenth-grade year. I reacted poorly to the relocation by quitting the things I loved. Band and baseball—gone. I wasn’t going to participate in them at the new school. Karate—an activity I was very good at—was also kicked to the curb. I wanted my parents to understand my displeasure fully.
But it was an immature move. The only person I hurt was me.
When we’re young, it’s hard to see the positives in life’s challenges. My parents didn’t move to hurt me. They did what was right for them and the famil. I can appreciate that as an adult. I also believe those moves are one of the reasons I can quickly engage with others. Frequently being the new kid forced me to get out of my shell and meet people.
If I had stayed in the same school district with the same friends during my childhood, who would I have become? That’s a question I can never answer. The only thing I can do is be grateful for the path we traveled until my graduation.
After high school, I joined the Army and continued moving. At that point, the journey became my own.
How was your childhood?
Did you grow up in the same school district
or did your family move frequently?
Let’s Accent-U-ate the Positive
While attending Left Coast Crime, I got into an interesting conversation with Jordan Harper, author of She Rides Shotgun. We ended up on a subject where he mentioned The New York Times’ Personal Dialect Map. Jordan stated he took the quiz and that it eerily guessed where he was from.
Of course, I had to make a note to try this test out as soon as I returned home.
The test provides twenty-five questions about how a person would say certain words. I figured the quiz would surely mess up based on my history above.
Nope.
It guessed that I was either from Spokane, Washington or Fresno, California. Whoa!
Would you take a moment and try the test?
I’d love to hear how it turned out for you.
This post originally appeared in a subscriber newsletter.
