Funny thing at work. They've hired a couple of men to come in and paint the buildings. I stopped to chit-chat yesterday and after just a short exchange the older man said, "Where are you from?"

Clearly I am not from here.

"Memphis," I said.

He shook his head.

"Well, originally I'm from Mississippi," I admitted. I moved to Memphis in 1982.

"Uh-huh," he said, nodding and smiling. "I'm from Jackson."

Is that not funny? He parsed my accent and pinned down my origin after just a few sentences. Are we reminded of Henry Higgins?

His name is Homer, which puts me in mind of "O Brother Where Art Thou". Mississippi has a weird relationship with literature and Classic culture. Only God knows why.