A Piggly Wiggly Virgin and A Whole Lotta Buggin'
I went to Piggly Wiggly for the first time recently. I've lived in the south for 6 years now, and I still vividly remember when I first moved to New Orleans in 2020. It was getting cold in Vermont where I was staying with my dad. He didn't exactly have a room or a couch for me at that time and after spending most of the year sleeping in my car or in squatting situations, I decided I might as well follow the birds. "You can go to Piggly Wiggly." My dad joked but the statement evoked a certain level of insight in that moment which was new to me. I had never really thought of the south as the culturally distinct experience it would, obviously, prove to be. I'm a yankee by birth and by upbringing, and aside from my yankee childhood I had spent the better part of my adolescent years exploring the west coast. The cultural tapestry of my life up to that point was not without intricate design but it was largely dominated by images of Subarus, snow, maple syrup, and the ...