It’s a Small World...in the Ham

Know that feeling when you run into people you know in random places? Like that NY magazine photographer I did a photo shoot with in Rosemary Beach, that I ran into in LaGuardia airport’s baggage claim – what a small world!

Well in Birmingham it happens every day. Yes, the odds are higher, but it is still a small world in the Ham. Like today for instance, I had a work lunch at Bottega Cafe and as I walk in, I get a tap on the glass from a guy I know (but rarely see). Then once seated, realize a woman I occasionally work with, yet rarely see, is seated at the banquet to my right. Yes, this restaurant is a popular fav for a posh lunch (and they serve their infamous crab cakes on Monday), so it is not that surprising, but fun all the same.

It is not as fun to run into people at say, the gym or the grocery store (Publix on Green Springs gets me everytime).

But as much as it happens here, it’s practically 2 degrees of separation in New Orleans. Everyone knows everybody, and if you don’t know them, you know ya mama an dem. It’s a funny town where everyone knows your family by your last name – “Oh you a Thibodaux? I know Boudreaux!” – hey, it has its charm.

Either place, there is something to be said for Southern towns where you always feel welcome and can relate because you know der mama.