I Hate Atlanta

i’m sure you want a recap of OUTRAGEOUS THURSDAY™ (as mcd and i refer to our combined day off.) it’s not going to be pretty….there are definately ups and downs. but let’s get started by saying that in the midst of really crap stuff…we were almost startled by the sunset, that right in the middle of city life and everything around, God still chooses to waste Himself on us through something like the colors in the sky, colors that won’t ever be replicated quite like that again, just so we’ll notice and respond to that initiation by saying “yes, yes you are good.” everyday, He wastes Himself and his creativity on us, and most days, i’m too “busy” to notice. i hate that.

we’ll recap with some nice pro/con. you want the good news or the bad news first?

bad news? ok. here we go. 

1. the aforementioned maple street guitars…was a terrible experience. yes, i understand that they are expensive guitars. yes, i understand that you want to take care of them. yes, i even understand that you know a lot about those guitars that you want to take care of. BUT…there is never an excuse for rude salespeople. never. never… nevernevernever. guitar snobs with a little taste of power get on my bad side real quick. 

mcd: um, yeah, i’d like to play this taylor right here.

rude dude: (holding the guitar out from mcd, just in case mcd snaps and starts beating the guy over the head with a $3000 guitar?) yeeeeah, can i get you to take your keys out of your pocket.

what? i mean…………what? also, they had a humidifier in the store (for the uninitiated, this is to keep zee acoustics at zee same temperature to prevent warping, etc.) so we’ll think “wooooow… they really are a high-end acoustic guitar store.” um…but there was a freaking DOG walking around the store. a dog. in a guitar store. words can’t describe. 

2. (what is it with me and lists all of the sudden?) atlanta is a souless, narcissistic, selfish, angry place. the vibe of that city makes me mad quicker than anywhere in recent memory. people are rude, untrusting and scared. (i know these are generalizations, if you live in atl and you think i’m an idiot, then i’m not talking to you.) no one in this town cares and that…that’s offensive to me. 

3. i saw more blatant depravity and disregard for the person of Christ in 6 hours than i’ve seen the past few years. now, i am not a naive person, this does not shock me. people who have no hope and no sense of anything outside their own hurt (which is very real) will act exactly like people who have no hope and no sense of anything outside their own hurt. that doesn’t make it any less offensive to my heart. and little five points, once my fav spot in atl, just seems to get angrier and angrier every year. it’s not like people are beating each other in the streets…it’s the brooding, just under the surface anger of people who want more than they have, who can’t find it, but still feel entitled to it.

4. i forgot to charge my camera before we left for atl…so i only got the one pic of the sunset.

ok…done. over. atl is now officially OUT for future OUTRAGEOUS THURSDAY™ destinations.

the power of positive thinking:

1. lunch with salina was awesome. she makes me smile.

2. we saw a “no parking” sign… you know, the one with the big “P” crossed out… only it was upside down, so it looked like a lower case “d”. we determined this definately stood for “NO DRAMA.” i’d show you a pic, but refer to the aforementioned #4.

3. stefan’s vintage clothing is still the coolest place to buy clothes in the world.

4. temples’ birthday shindig was fun, fun, fun. although, admittedly, the pinball machine selection at dave & buster’s is LEW. loser pinball machines are no fun…even if you do destroy the high score. repeatedly.

overall…a 50/50 day. UNTIL… 

5. the moment of beauty for the day, which i really can’t describe to you in words, we’ll just say it involved seeing beauty and humanity stand out massively in the midst of everything… it pushed the pro over the con and made it a great day. (however, i think next week’s OUTRAGEOUS THURSDAY™ will involve the mountains and waterfalls. and a functioning camera.)