Dalton was not only our first stop on the tour but it was the first event we’ve ever hosted in the city. Our expectations were rather low. We would have been happy with 20-30 people. W
hen we showed up we were shocked to be greeted by a crowd of 200-300 people! It was clear by the expression of those in attendance that Raed and Jason were both very engaging and presented a perspective that many in the room had not heard before.
hen we showed up we were shocked to be greeted by a crowd of 200-300 people! It was clear by the expression of those in attendance that Raed and Jason were both very engaging and presented a perspective that many in the room had not heard before.
After the talk many students stuck around to ask personal questions to Raed and Jason. We had reporters from two newspapers, both of which ended up writing front page stories!
Kim Shaw, the local organizer that did the foot work that made the day a success, treated us to lunch at Los Reyes. There we discussed the economic crisis and the impact it’s had on the Dalton community (Dalton’s unemployment rate is the 2nd highest in the country!!!). So we said goodbye and were on our merry way. I reluctantly agreed to let Raed drive Rosa (our bus) all the way back to Marietta. He did okay.
We had time to kill so I set up a last minute dinner Party in Atlanta. Over 300 people showed up throughout the night! It was great. We left Atlanta at around 10:30pm Columbus bound. On the way to Columbus we got stuck in gridlock for 3 hours! Apparently two big rigs flipped over. Raed and I couldn’t help thinking that if Atlanta had $500 Million ( not even what one day of war in Iraq cost) to finish the three closed lanes that have been under construction forever we would’ve been stuck with all these thousands of other people.
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