Interracial Couple moving to Madison, Miss

[GrandviewGloria]

Media portrayals of Mississippi exist completely independent of reality. There's the mythical Mississippi, and then there's the real one. I remember seeing a movie supposedly about Mississippi, and thinking it was set in the 1950s. After all, Cissy Spacek was out on the porch, combing her hair dry, and men were running around in khakis with suspenders, wearing wife-beater undershirts and fedora hats. But then the next scene showed a brand-new Lincoln Towncar, and I realized the flick was set in the present. Mythical Mississippi has no air-conditioning (remember when 'A Time to Kill' was satirized as 'A Time to Schvitz'?), and, apparently, no blow-driers, either. Real Mississippi is air-conditioned to the hilt. And we don't just have blow driers. We have day-spas and laser centers, too.

This is a very Fundamentalist Christian place, where Christ-like tolerance of others is taught to even the tiniest toddlers. No one will be rude to you, but many, many people will try to get you to join their church. If you are classy in your dress and demeanor, you will have no problems fitting in, in Madison County. BTW, many of the county's loveliest and oldest landowning families are black, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of black professionals and high-ranking black educators.

That said, Madison-proper is a place where one is expected to behave extremely well. There is zero tolerance for criminality here. Plenty of snooty white families have moved here with their rotten kids, and moved back to Jackson within a year's time. The second time their bad seed are arrested is generally when they list their houses and call the moving company. I see rich white men in 7-series BMWs and S-class Mercedes pulled over for speeding, every time I drive through town. Owners of boom cars and loud mufflers are ticketed (and their vehicles searched). So be sure you stay close to the speed limit, and use that turning signal. And people have been arrested for using obscene language. That's inconvenient for me, so I'm practicing using non-obscene expletives. Oh BOTHER!

I suspect you've been ensconced in Madison County for a couple of years, now; and your son is happy at St. Joe. Maybe we'll see you at the new Beagle Bagel! Can't wait until it opens....