From Boston to Buckhead

In something of a fun coincidence, the 20th anniversary of Atlanta INtown perfectly marks my own arrival in town. Like many transplants, my wife Kristen still thinks of where she grew up in New Jersey as “home,” which is understandable, but for me it’s solidly A-town. If a new grey hair sprouts every time I utter the phrase 20 years ago, then so be it. I need a quick trip down memory lane!

Twenty years ago, I graduated from Boston College and moved to Atlanta with a bunch of friends because the Boston winters were wearing us out. I suppose I could have moved back to New York where I grew up, but the Olympics were coming to Atlanta and there was this magical neighborhood called Buckhead where every night was a street party. My buddy McCarty and I arrived on a Saturday night and it felt like we somehow magically drove to Rio in a 1991 Toyota Camry wagon.

Twenty years ago, the Gables of Buckhead apartments were newly built and the paint had barely dried when we moved in. My share of the rent was $455, which was about $55 over my budget so we couldn’t a ord much furniture, but the proximity to CJ’s Landing, e Lodge and ree Dollar Café were hard to argue with. Out of my bedroom window, I could peer up Pharr Road to Taco Mac on one side and Oxford books on the other. Who needs furniture, right?

Twenty years ago, I needed a job so I worked as a rug porter at Rugs by Robinson in ADAC. It was fun to learn a new trade while looking for a real job, whatever that was. I relied on Creative Loa ng heavily to introduce me to the city, so I gured why not pop in the o ce and see if there was a job opening at the paper itself. It turns out there was. I thought this will be a smooth “Tim Sullivan, English Major, pleased to meet you. I love writing words! Where’s my o ce?” But the guy was only interested in my computer skills and how many words per minute I could type, and he didn’t mean while being clever. In college I nger-tapped papers on a Smith Corona word processor that sounded like a machine gun when printing. ey did not need my services.

Twenty years ago, I went on a series of interviews with UPS for an overnight shi job that had something to do with package security. e interviewer said he really liked that I had lifeguarding experience. I was informed I would need to get a haircut and invest in more white shirts. With each successive interview I tried to reshu e the deck “Tim Sullivan, English Major – can I drive one of the brown trucks?” Despite assurances that the bene ts were great and that upward mobility could be swi , I declined the o er. I couldn’t bring myself to care enough whether a package was lost or delivered on time. Plus, I would have been dearly missed at CJ’s.

Twenty years on and perhaps not surprisingly, I’m still in the rug business. I rely on UPS every day and care deeply about the security and timeliness of my packages. So it goes. And the good people at Atlanta INtown don’t judge how quickly I type my words. I’ve lived in Buckhead, VirginiaHighland, Midtown, Cabbagetown and Decatur, and morphed from a bemused outsider to someone who gets goose bumps when Samuel L. Jackson beckons “Rise up Atlanta!”

So cheers to INtown on the 20th anniversary! And cheers to my fellow transplants and the lifers who have welcomed us. I think since I’ve outlasted Turner Field and my daughter pronounces certain words with a southern twang I’ve achieved native status, no? Readers do tell – what were you doing 20 years ago? Best story gets a shbowl at LuLu’s Bait Shack on me.

Tim Sullivan grew up in a large family in the Northeast and now lives with his small family in Oakhurst. He can be reached at tim@sullivan nerugs.com.