Them Thar Hills
The CFO went to an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) conference in Charlotte (actually Matthews) yesterday and I tagged along as her guest. Yup, just me and a room full of "touchie feelies" with three professors (actually one was a dean) from ASU talking about the culture of Appalachia and it's impact on psychotherapy.
I almost didn't go because the CFO told me I had to dress UP to business casual. I promised to wear my cleanest, most strain-free jeans and a new tee shirt but she would have nothing to do with it. So, I wore khakis for the first time since I was in Italy in September.
Actually, the conference was all quite interesting. The first professor talked about the unique aspects of the Appalachian culture and she was quite good (she got it right) even though she grew up in California. She said her two daughters were born in Boone and "we have managed to get them to be about half mountain."
I cannot say that I learned much but I was able to confirm many of the things I held to be truths (biases that I have convinced myself by observations to be facts). And, it was interesting to think about how things that happened in my own family (even though I grew up in a community on the far outskirts of Appalachia) were influenced by this culture.
We had a nice "free" lunch and a second professor talked about modifications of therapy techniques to accommodate the unique Appalachian cultural differences. That was not quite as interesting to me but I'm sure the CFO will use me as a Guinea pig.
Now, as for Charlotte and environs: DON'T GO THERE. Google said it would be a trip (all on Interstates except the last 2 miles) of 1 hour and 52 minutes. It took 3 hours and 10 minutes. Charlotte is like LA on steroids. We finally exited I-77 in desperation at Lake Norman, cut across east on NC-73, down US-601, back west on NC 24-27 and then finally south on the I-485 Outer Beltline to Matthews.
I'm NEVER leaving the mountain again!
I almost didn't go because the CFO told me I had to dress UP to business casual. I promised to wear my cleanest, most strain-free jeans and a new tee shirt but she would have nothing to do with it. So, I wore khakis for the first time since I was in Italy in September.
Actually, the conference was all quite interesting. The first professor talked about the unique aspects of the Appalachian culture and she was quite good (she got it right) even though she grew up in California. She said her two daughters were born in Boone and "we have managed to get them to be about half mountain."
I cannot say that I learned much but I was able to confirm many of the things I held to be truths (biases that I have convinced myself by observations to be facts). And, it was interesting to think about how things that happened in my own family (even though I grew up in a community on the far outskirts of Appalachia) were influenced by this culture.
We had a nice "free" lunch and a second professor talked about modifications of therapy techniques to accommodate the unique Appalachian cultural differences. That was not quite as interesting to me but I'm sure the CFO will use me as a Guinea pig.
Now, as for Charlotte and environs: DON'T GO THERE. Google said it would be a trip (all on Interstates except the last 2 miles) of 1 hour and 52 minutes. It took 3 hours and 10 minutes. Charlotte is like LA on steroids. We finally exited I-77 in desperation at Lake Norman, cut across east on NC-73, down US-601, back west on NC 24-27 and then finally south on the I-485 Outer Beltline to Matthews.
I'm NEVER leaving the mountain again!
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