The FHSU Convention Connection

Once upon a time, I graduated from high school and dreamt of making my home in the big city.
Any big city, for that matter — I never really had a strong preference. I just absolutely did not want to stay in my native western Kansas.
It’s funny how things change as we grow up.
After only five days in Denver, I absolutely cannot wait to come back to Hays.
I think “Cheers” said it best — it’s where everybody knows my name.
I’ve discovered I’m not a big fan of public transportation. For a ride to and from the downtown region, I’ve spent almost $20 in the past three days.
That’s nearly a tank of gas, which would get my small car and I by for at least two weeks at home.
Vine Street is also looking pretty good right now. One of yesterday’s activities required a trek across town, and try though we did to avoid rush-hour traffic, we spent about three hours in a Fort Hays State University van.
When we finally returned to our home-away-from-home, I seriously considered kissing the ground. We were hungry, tired, and travel weary.
Not only that, but we’d wasted three hours of our day, which is simply not acceptable to busy collegiate journalists.
To make matters worse, our resident delegate Shala Mills was with us, and she ended up being late to Michelle Obama’s Monday night speech at the Pepsi Center.
The final straw, however, came yesterday evening after our traffic jam experience.
We were so tired, we decided to order a pizza for dinner. For starters, we had to call three Pizza Huts to find the right one for our little metropolitan corner.
Then, we were informed it would be an almost 2-hour wait to have our pizza delivered.
Two hours! In good old Hays, America, the maximum delivery time is 20 minutes.
But small town charm is not all about logistics, or even economics and pizza delivery.
While the people here have been very friendly and accommodating, minus the protesters, of course — it doesn’t compare to the Hays hospitality.
As for me, I’m happy to make my home in a small town.

Tags: The Race //