Idle Ramblings

Oxford Lost
This past weekend I spent more time in my former home of Oxford than I have in many years. I left Oxford almost 11 years ago at a time when the city which, at first, held William Faulkner in disdain and then came to embrace him, was making some big decisions about where it was heading.

Oxford would not be Oxford without Ole Miss: not The University of Mississippi, but Ole Miss, with all the good things and historical baggage that brings along with it. Ole Miss would also not be Ole Miss without Oxford for the exact same reason. Both have a love/hate relationship with one another and neither could survive without the other. I've spent significant amounts of time in Hattiesburg and Starkville, and while both benefit greatly from their universities, neither is as inextricably tied with their school as is Oxford.

For those of us who did our time in the town that is now a city, the change over the past 10 years can be startling, but none was as startling as my trip to the Oxford (s)Mall. Since its opening when I was in junior high, the Oxford (s)Mall was the closest thing those of us growing up near Oxford had to ties to the big city. Later, in college, our friends from Dallas, the East and West coasts, Chicago, and other large metro areas just didn't get the significance of the Oxford (s)Mall to us "natives." They didn't understand just what it provided for us.

Sure, it was a place to go and buy over-priced athletic shoes or the latest fashions which were about six months behind the rest of the country. But it was also a place where on weekends during high school one could go and play a game or two of Tron or Galaga before trying to bluff your way into an R-rated movie. You could go to Walden Books and get the almost latest bestseller, pick up the new X-Men, sci-fi novel or leaf through the dog-eared "photography" books which usually made their way to one of the back isles where the people at the checkout counter couldn't see.

Now, even those small youthful thrills, and those later additions like David's Dollar Tree, are history. A walk through the (s)Mall Friday night was like a walk through a ghost town. There are fewer than a dozen businesses still operating. Most of the building is empty, with the remaining businesses gathered on the east end near the main entrance like passengers getting ready to depart. Twenty minutes was all it took to take it all into, and that included two games of air hockey at the aptly named "Yesterday's" arcade.

The (s)Mall is just one example. Everywhere you look things are changing. For one thing there are plenty of places to eat. Restaurants of all types have popped up. There are also a lot more bars catering to a more diverse crowd. (It's funny how a university where the majority of students are underage can support so many bars.)

There are also a lot of new apartments. New apartment complexes and expensive homes are being built everywhere. Oxford has become a boom town. It features a new, spacious Wal-Mart, where, were we to spend some time late night with the right crowd, could be a lot of fun. And for David, there is not just a new Dollar Tree located right next door, but a whole Dollar Forrest with isle after isle of cheap crap that no one really needs. (Including the $5 worth of cheap crap I didn't need.)

New businesses seem to be popping up all over the place. Word has it that there will even be a new theater put into place. The university is now attracting big-name celebrities like Art Garfunkle, Art Garfunkle and Art Garfunkle to perform in the new state-of-the-art fine arts center. And Ole Miss is beating teams like Florida more often than losing to teams like Northeast Louisiana.

I think, all in all, it's a positive change for those who chose to attend the university. I would have loved to have all the extra diversions around so I could have spent even less time concentrating on academics than I did. But now, almost 11 years after I left Oxford, I don't think I would like to return. Not to the city proper. Perhaps somewhere out in the country between the city and my home town. Maybe somewhere that's convenient to the university and the big ole Dollar Tree (we still didn't see an actual tree), but where we can escape the constant flow of SUVs.

If you haven't been there in a while, it's still Oxford, but our Oxford in all its relatively unexciting glory, is a thing of the past.

posted by Joseph @ 10/05/2003 06:53:00 PM