One of the hardest things about growing up is seeing the conditions of your youth with the context and hindsight of adulthood. I grew up in small towns all my life, mostly in one town in particular called Morris in MN. In many ways it was a stereotypical small town: just under 5,700 people, lots of churches (thirteen I think), county fairs with mini doughnuts and multiple buildings for livestock, small town stores with very little in the way of inventory or selection, parades down main street in the summertime where people on floats threw candy to the kids (occasionally *at* the kids), the whole nine yards.
Yet I also knew that Morris was in some ways different from a lot of the small towns in the area because we had a small university there called the University of MN – Morris. It was a bastion of liberal arts, a tiny little haven of arts, culture, and intellectual thought. Kind of the "UC Berkeley" of the U of M system. I hung out there a lot as a youngster, between piano lessons in the music center, summer programs for “smart kids”, and just wandering through the science buildings. It is probably because I spent so much time on campus as a kid that me and my friends grew up thinking that Morris was a fairly liberal town.
Well, today I was reminded how wrong I was when I read in the Star Tribune about how a bunch of local elementary schools are canceling trips to go see a children’s theater show at the U because it apparently is being produced by the gay liberal media. The school board member that is quoted as insinuating that the play is obviously promoting the gay lifestyle? Yeah, that was my 5th grade math teacher. It was her room that we all went into to watch the coverage of the Challenger disaster when it happened becuse she had a television. Needless to say, I never realized how small-minded she was until now. How she drew some of those conclusions is beyond me. Ah, the bliss of small-town paranoia...
Urgh…I’m so glad I don’t live there anymore.
Yet I also knew that Morris was in some ways different from a lot of the small towns in the area because we had a small university there called the University of MN – Morris. It was a bastion of liberal arts, a tiny little haven of arts, culture, and intellectual thought. Kind of the "UC Berkeley" of the U of M system. I hung out there a lot as a youngster, between piano lessons in the music center, summer programs for “smart kids”, and just wandering through the science buildings. It is probably because I spent so much time on campus as a kid that me and my friends grew up thinking that Morris was a fairly liberal town.
Well, today I was reminded how wrong I was when I read in the Star Tribune about how a bunch of local elementary schools are canceling trips to go see a children’s theater show at the U because it apparently is being produced by the gay liberal media. The school board member that is quoted as insinuating that the play is obviously promoting the gay lifestyle? Yeah, that was my 5th grade math teacher. It was her room that we all went into to watch the coverage of the Challenger disaster when it happened becuse she had a television. Needless to say, I never realized how small-minded she was until now. How she drew some of those conclusions is beyond me. Ah, the bliss of small-town paranoia...
Urgh…I’m so glad I don’t live there anymore.
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