By Les Ferguson, Jr.
Columnist

I started this column on Thursday in Brooklyn. Yes, that Brooklyn. New York, New York. We flew out of
Memphis at 6:03 AM that morning because some doofus was not paying attention when he bought
tickets. Because said doofus did not pay attention, we started our trip with a 2:45 AM wake-up call.
It could only get better. It did until the TSA flagged Mrs. Doofus as having an ID that didn’t match her
boarding pass information. That necessitated a trip back to the ticket and baggage counter, where it was
finally discovered that the Doofus had struck again by using his year of birth for hers.
Eventually, it was all straightened out, and soon, we were flying the friendly skies — and then New York
City. We weren’t in Mississippi, for certain — no, ma’am, and no, sir.
Since we’ve been here, we have taken our first Uber and our first Lyft and gone the wrong direction once
on the subway. Thankfully, the wrong direction was not the doofus’ fault—that was Jennifer’s (the name
has been changed to protect the identity of Mrs. Doofus).
New York City. The Big Apple. Times Square. Central Park. Ground Zero. The Statue of Liberty. American
Museum of Natural History. There is so much to see and do here. In four days, we’ve barely made a
dent.
It’s a good thing we have a son who lives in Brooklyn. I cannot fathom how much money we saved by
staying with him. If you are ever there, I can recommend Luigi’s Pizza, Southside Coffee, and I Love
Guacamole.
As we walked around New York, it was fascinating to see how differently folks live in a city like this. The
sidewalks are filled with pedestrians, and every kind of two-wheeled conveyance makes a constant buzz
on the streets as everything imaginable is delivered.
The city also made me anxious to return to Mississippi. Less concrete. More grass. Smiling people.
Budding trees. Farmland. The city is a great place to visit, but give me our Mississippi home in a
proverbial New York minute.
In whatever area of the state you live in, take a minute as you walk out your front door to appreciate the
beauty there. Mississippi is not a perfect place. We get a lot of grief for our past and current failures. But
Mississippi is home, and a wonderful home at that.
Jeremiah’s word to the Jewish exiles in Babylon is still valuable for all today: “Pursue the well-being of
the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.””
Jeremiah 29:7 CSB
Let’s be thankful for Mississippi!