Monthly Archives: September 2011

There Goes the Neighborhood

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Among the myriad of one-way streets in the heart of Uptown lies my tiny apartment.  My house exists in limbo between the extremes of society, located somewhere between the law students and the hippies, the business owner and the perpetual student, the nuns and the strippers; New Orleans Neighbors are the most frighteningly friendly folks you will ever meet.  Some are fun and funky, others functionally dysfunctional and all of them are more than a little bit quirky.

If you did away with all the music, the food, the art, the potholes, the festivals, and the mayhem, New Orleans would still be one of the most unique cities in this country.  Put simply, it is because of the people.  No one can enter this strange place without encountering at least one of these amazing New Orleans personalities, in fact you can’t crack open an Abita beer without five of them stopping in just to say “How ya mama an dem?”

Coming soon to “A Little More Than Local” is a series on local characters called There Goes the Neighborhood, featuring character profiles of the not so ritzy parts of Uptown, where middle-class and local flavor combine to create a neighborhood more flavorful than Tony Chachere’s famous seasoning.  Stay tuned for posts on the quirky neighbors that one could only find in New Orleans.

The High School Question

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“Where did you go to school?”  How you interpret and answer this question may be one of the most telling statements in a New Orleans meet cute.  Those who didn’t grow up in NOLA will react in one of two ways:  1. They will answer with their University or 2. They will roll their eyes and say, I didn’t grow up here.  The former, are simply unaware that the question “Where did you go to school?” actually means, “Where did you go to HIGH SCHOOL?” and the latter are those who have spent more time in New Orleans and are sick of being asked the question that they are unable to provide a satisfactory answer to.  I honestly can’t say I blame them for this reaction.

Those from New Orleans react to this question quite differently.  They simply state the name of the high school they attended and reciprocate the question.  What follows is often an exchange of graduation dates and friends who attended each other’s schools.  While the answer to this question seems to be a piece of useless information, it in fact provides any NOLA-ite with the most detailed background of their new acquaintance in the shortest amount of time.

Of course, since there are so many schools in the city many of them with extremely small class sizes, one’s social network was not limited to their own school.  In fact, it was preferable to have friends outside of your own high school so that you were able to take a mini vacation from the drama that smaller schools often breed.  Since in New Orleans the six degrees of separation actually become two, asking where someone went to high school on the surface is an attempt at finding the two degrees between you and your new acquaintance.  Nine and a half times out of ten you can find at least one person you know in common.

With the plethora of private, parochial and public schools in the city, each school has taken on a distinct identity.  You can think of this in terms of Greek life in college, where each fraternity and sorority had their own reputation-the smart kids, the preppy kids, the stoner kids and so on.  On another dimension, the New Orleans high school question serves to instantaneously understand a person’s background: the type of people they grew up with and who was influencing them during their formative years.

Aside from the social reputation the school has earned, the final dimension to the high school is the individual’s socioeconomic status.  The schools in the city range from the free public schools to private schools that can cost up to $17,000 a year.  Whether the person asking the question intends to deduce this information or not, the answer to this question often times inadvertently suggests the financial means of a person’s family.  This is perhaps one of the most flawed dimensions to the question as there are many individuals who attend private school on scholarship and likewise many who attend the public magnet schools despite their family’s fortune.  So in the very least, even if someone is shallow enough to try to pull this information out of someone upon a first meeting, the accuracy of the supposed answer is never guaranteed.

The New Orleans high school that someone attends is a life long brand that you can never shake.  Hell, there are sixty year olds I know that still participate in the high school question ritual.  Most days people wear their brand with honor, acting in full support of their alma maters.  However even the most well respected high school in the city comes with a social stigma that is less than desirable if you encounter a group whose personality clashes with yours.  So even those of us who can and will answer the age-old high school question, are often times weary of the information they inadvertently provide and the reaction that may ensue as a result of their answer.  But in all actuality, we really just want to know if we know your momma and dem!

Sounds of the Swamp

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Nothing makes me feel more whole, healthy and happy than being able to sit outside, enjoying the weather and the sounds that surround me.  Most cities leave you feeling alienated from nature.  Despite the parks and green space they remove many of the natural feelings, the sounds and the smells of the air.  Even though New Orleans is considered a major US city, these basic elements of nature are still omnipresent in our lives.

In the summer months, nature becomes particularly noticeable.  It’s not just because Hurricane season is upon us and the threat of tropical storms can turn your front lawn into a river at a moments notice.  It’s because the sounds of New Orleans come alive this time of year.

Located in the swamp lands of America, no amount of pavement or neon lights could remove the swamp from within the city limits.  This time of year the cicadas chirp so loudly that you could swear you were living on a boat house on the bayou.  It’s the sound of the city that is so unique it leaves guests wondering if their next encounter will be an alligator on the front lawn.  They might not see the gator they had hoped for, but coyotes, raccoons, opossums and nutria are certain possibilities to throw into the mix.

This connection to nature is an unrealistic expectation for many cities.  The ever-present reminders in New Orleans connect us to our land and help create a sense of space unique to us and our individuality.  The warm blanket of humidity is comforting, the sounds of the cicadas soothing and the connection to mother nature one of mutual respect and admiration.