Life changer

There is no where in the world that I love more than New Orleans. I've been all over Europe, Asia and North America, and still haven't found a place that makes me feel as comfortable or warm. That being said, the city is not without its foibles. The city government has been filled with corruption – long before the Katrina disaster – and the politicians have always had their true motives called into question. The class structure is as dynamic as any other city of size, but is more pronounced with a minimalized middle class within New Orleans parish. The cops and the streets are dirty, the Mississippi dirtier times three.

Still, I smile when I hear mention of NOLA, I bask in the Quarter's glow every chance I get and I would be hard pressed to say that Mike and I have not thought about making the city our permanent home if the stars aligned in our favor.

Last weekend I had the chance to play "tour guide" to one of Mike's classmates who had never seen the city. It was nice for me, because I have been there so often that I don't always get to do the things that we did. It was a refreshing reminder of all the amazing things that the city, specifically the Quarter, has to offer. When B left on Monday morning, I stayed an extra day to hang out with my girlfriends and experience Halloween on Bourbon Street. The costumes were AMAZING and the party was out of control. I loved almost every minute of it.

That night, I experienced something that I thought I never would. As I was walking between two bars, on either end of Bourbon St, I came upon an crowded intersection. Nothing odd about it, really. The mounted police were high above the crowd, keeping their eyes out for drunks and flashing boobs, when out of the blue, I was met with several "pop...pop....pop-pop-pops." I watched, twelve people away from me, a young man be shot in the head and another in the shoulder. This happened right in front of the police, right in the middle of a crowded, celebratory, costume-wearing crowd. The target was intended, presumably gang-related, but none of us knew that at that given moment.

In my thirty-something years, I've never seen anything shot. Not a deer, a turkey, a horse – much less a human. There are many more details to this story, but most of you are as uninterested in hearing them as I am in telling them. Suffice to say, I was a shaking, panicked mess who paused for a moment and wondered where my city went.

I realized, however, that it hadn't gone anywhere. I was simply more immersed in it than I ever had been in the past. This world has evolved into one that allows us to comfortably hunker down in the pockets of life that don't scare us, that don't put us in harms way. We are given the freedom and right to live free from danger and to travel in relative safety. But just like anything, we live with choice – free will.

I'm proud to love the city of New Orleans, and I'm even more excited to travel back. I appreciate the sentiment of those who say, "uh, are you crazy?" – and to that I say, "I doubt it." But I will say that this event has taught me to be less cavalier about all my travels and all my adventures outside my own door – whether they be in Chattanooga or Shanghai. All I know is that fear won't help me make better decisions, but it will cause me to miss out on what life has in store for me.