If you stop and think about it, native Atlantans are an exceptionally welcoming lot. Sure, the City Too Busy to Hate was basically built on the backs of carpetbagging transplants, but it's very rare that people from Atlanta will exhibit pushback to any law-abiding newcomer from around the country and world. (Imagine if generations of Southerners began flocking to, say, New Jersey for some reason. How would that go over?) But still, humans are humans, and among Atlanta's gracious indigenous masses there is at least some modicum of boiling, anti-outsider rage. For proof, we need look no further than Ray.
Ray was inspired by an observation on these pages that a candidate for Nashville mayor was running campaign ads that smeared the Big Peach. The candidate was saying, in essence, if Nashville doesn't choose its leadership wisely, it'll end up the next Atlanta. That is, mired in traffic. And always sad. A month and a half later, Ray has apparently caught wind of this, and now he chimes in with a brief but impassioned Letter to the Editor/driving lesson, signed with only his first name:
"You don't like it? GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM! 90 percent of the traffic problems are caused due to the growth of transplants that have moved into Atlanta and not learning their way around.
"I was born and raised right here in Atlanta, I don't freak out when it rains or snows. It (sic?) just weather!! I drive cautiously. I use common sense when driving, prepare for an exit when a sign says the exit is 1 mile ahead. I do not wait til the last minute. I use my blinkers to change lanes. Not just cut over. I understand when MERGING into traffic that it's my responsibility to yield and use my blinkers to let other drivers know I would like to merge.
"So once again. You don't like it here? GO BACK! This is my hometown!!"
— Ray
· Candidate for Nashville Mayor Takes Cheap Shot at Atlanta [Curbed]
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