Greetings friend.
Life in Oxford used to be easy. It is why so many of us after college or job tenure, simply never left. And also why so many who try to leave, usually end up coming back. It’s a strong testament to our fair town.
That being said, lately I have found the thought floating around more often than ever: Why do I stay and attempt to run a business and build a life here, when obviously the powers-that-be, don’t particularly want my kind around anymore?
So what is my kind? More old Oxford than new, that’s for sure.
Like most I’ve come to know and love here, I like to play as much as I work. I drink and smoke, get rowdy on occasion, and sometimes even make an ass of myself. However, this behavior hardly makes me unique in these parts.
The great thing about Oxford — and all the wonderful people in it — is that few ever hold a grudge on the occasion that one does push a good time a little too far. I think it has something to do with throwing stones in glass houses, but I’m not an expert.
I survived in a lot of places before finding Oxford, but only here did I truly begin to live. From the moment I set foot in town, this place simply felt like home. After deciding that I would probably take my last breath here — on William’s stomping ground — did the world seem to open up and offer me a good path.
Where else could a grad school dropout, with few skills and even less money, find moderate success doing the one thing that seems to get praise around here: making a good drink? I know it’s hardly a world-shaking profession, but it’s what I do well, and I take pride in it.
What little success I’ve accomplished so far didn’t come easy, but most of the pieces did fall into place as if it were meant to be. Nothing like that ever happened for me before Oxford. Perhaps it’s why I am now so protective of the spirit that first greeted me — a spirit that said, all is good, we welcome you, keep working hard and life will be smiles. I’m just finding it difficult to smile lately. Life is getting hard.
We used to call this place the Little Easy, but it seems the light-hearted title has begun to offend certain folks – as if the outside world’s opinion suddenly mattered. All the recent politics of control seem to be born out of a deep-seated insecurity, held by our leaders, that someone from the outside might not approve of our lifestyle. It’s as if 6 years ago, after local elections, a spotlight were placed on Oxford and someone was caught picking his nose…
Bottom line, I don’t care what others think about us. I don’t care if movie stars visit or don’t, if crappy bands get keys to the city or not. I don’t even care that our local government sold us, and our privacy, out years ago by placing spy-cams at intersections in exchange for a little federal grant money. None of this matters.
What matters most at the end of my day are the friendships I have. They are why I stay. They are my Oxford.
I write this column in hopes of sharing a point of view that most in my circles hold, but rarely get heard. Most of all, I hope I have represented my friends well with the expression of our ideas. We are not radical left-wing hippies. We simply prefer to live and let live. We prefer to keep Oxford easy.
What does this have to do with eating cake? You figure it out.
Thanks for reading, and please register to vote.
You can download a voter registration form in PDF format here.
