"The streets here are so wide, and what are all those vehicles that go roaring by?"  That's what I heard the man in the next booth say to the waitress, as I sat sipping my coffee that early June morning in 2002.  His statement caught my attention, so I began paying more attention to what he was saying to the waitress.  I got the impression he was from another era--Maybe around The Civil War times.  The man spoke of the last time he had been in Atlanta and how the narrow the streets had been.  He said they were so narrow it was hard for two people to meet if they were driving their horses and wagon rather than walking.  He spoke of how muck the city had grown since that time and how he couldn't even find his way around anymore.

I began talking to the man, and he told me about growing up on Peachtree Street; it was just a country lane back then, and it took me quite some time to figure out where he was talking about.  The name has changed, and I really only guessed that he must be talking about Peachtree Street.  The man was likeable, and we were getting along together very well.  He told me some about his childhood and growing up in Atlanta.  I told him that I had lived in Marietta in the 1970s, and that I had actually moved out there in the late 1960s.  You should have seen the look on the man's face when I told him that.  He seemed to be thinking, "How stupid do you think I am?"

He said, "I know that it has been a while since I left, but it can't possibly be 1960.  Is it?"  I said, "No Sir, it isn't; it's 2002 now.  I have been living back in Arkansas for the last 24 years and am just out here visiting my sister and some friends that I made when I did live here."   He looked at me incredulously as if he or I one or the other had lost our mind.  While we were talking, I explained to him about cars.  I also explained the best that I could about electricity and central heating and air conditioning.  I told him that not many people raise their own vegetables and meat anymore.  Mostly they go to a grocery store and stock up a couple of times a month.  I explained that we have what is called refrigerators to keep them cold and fresh, and that they have a freezer compartment for keeping meat frozen until we are ready to use it.  He looked at quizzically as I explained about electric cook stoves, and how a heating element warms enough to cook food.

I told him that I would like to take him to a local supermarket and show him through the store.  He agreed, and off we went to see a local grocery store--an old unwanted job for me, but it was a new adventure for him--Something that he had never seen which made it exciting for me too.   We went through the store, and he acted just like a kid, because of how strange it was to him.  The gentleman kept talking about killing hogs as cool as the weather is.  I explained that it didn't really turn this cool outside that the air conditioning is keeping the store cool.  That almost all homes have air conditioning now and all the stores have it too.  I reminded him of what I had told him about refrigerators and freezers and showed him one with frozen meats then bought him an ice cream bar to prove that I wasn't putting him on.  He said that he couldn't believe such a thing could be invented.

As we left the store, sweat beads popped out all over both of us and he said, "I see what you mean about air conditioning."   We drove around I-285 for a little way to show him how much bigger Atlanta is compared to when he was a boy.  Those cars flying by at 75 and 80 MPH almost scared the man to death.  He said that was scarier than any Civil War battle he had been in.   He said that he couldn't believe a five-lane road going each direction could or would ever need to be built.  I finally took him to Peachtree Street and showed it to him as well.  He couldn't find where he grew up, and said that it was like never having been there in his life.  He told me, “It's like being in a time warp and having no idea where you are or how you got there.”  He said, "I grew up right on this street, but it is like I've never seen the place in my life.  In fact I haven't seen it; it was a country road when I grew up and looked nothing like this.”

Then he asked about all those square boxes sitting beside most of the houses.  I replied, "Those are the air conditioners that I told you about.  Most of the main part of the units sit outside the houses.”