Kansas Connection: Animal Shelter

At the West Valley Animal Services Center last Tuesday, where I was reporting a story about volunteerism, a woman playing with three small, fuzzy kittens immediately drew my eye.

She radiated tentative punk: head shaved, left ear a ring- and gauge-studded crescent, her spotless rubber gloves incongruous with the rest of her carefully punkish, disheveled appearance.

Me: Excuse me?
Punk: Oh, hello!

I immediately noticed another incongruity: her refined British accent, which made me think of kings and castles and royalty, seemed out of place next to her baggy cargo pants, Doc Martins and thick black eyeliner.

Me: I'm sure you hear this a lot, but I love your accent. Where are you from?
British-accent Punk (BP): I'm originally from South Africa, but I've lived here for years.

We got to chatting, and I struggled to keep up — not was her accent impeccable, but she spoke 100 miles an hour (or should I say kilometers?) as well.

Stalling for time so I could jot down the rest of a quality quote, I started asking throwaway questions.

Me: So what brought you to California?
BP: I came on a student visa a long time ago.
Me: And you came straight out here? That's a long way.
BP: No, I started out farther East and gradually ended up in Los Angeles.
Me: Oh? Where did you move first?

She looked at me curiously, obviously wondering why anyone would care. I was even done writing, but now I was genuinely wondering.

BP: You probably haven't even heard of it.
Me: Try me.
BP: Abilene, Kansas?

There was an audible crack as my jaw hit the floor.

BP: And then I moved on out to Boulder, Colorado, where I – how do kids say it? – "kicked it" for a few years...
Me: (thinking) Ah, that explains the poser-punk...

She continued to talk happily about her migration westward, but my cat allergy got the better of me and I made a graceful – if somewhat hurried – exit to the bathroom, eyes watery and puffy, sneezing frantically.

For those of you (blissfully?) unaware of Abilene: Population 6,500. Its most notable attraction is probably the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library: Eisenhower moved to Abilene from Texas when he was a little boy and finished primary and secondary education there.

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Small world.
British poser-punks.
Kansas connection.