hometown

A few years ago, I went to the mall for a new jacket. Armed with promising coupons, I headed down the hall to Macy’s, but just outside the store a young salesperson stopped me.

As a Kentucky native who has lived in the West for the past five years, I’ve gotten used to being asked if I’ve ever been to the Kentucky Derby. It was the second-most-asked question regarding my home state, finishing close after, “Why don’t you have an accent?” Both questions happen to have the same answer: my hometown was in northern Kentucky, which was closer to Cincinnati than anything else. Instead of associating with the rural culture that is characterized by horse races and thick drawls, I visited Ohio and Indiana more than Louisville (the only city in the state that non-Kentuckians recognize).