Homer, Louisiana, the "home" of David Haynes

Eric Regard
English 1001
Ms. Lei Lani Michel
9 October 2007
Homer, Louisiana, the “home” of David Haynes
If someone were to say that they know where Homer, Louisiana is, they probably live near by. In fact, very few people live in Homer or can say that they are a product of Homer. My friend David, on the other hand, isn’t one of those people. In July of 1988, David Haynes was born in this small town to one of the few wealthy families within miles of this city. With a population of just over 3,500 people, Homer is located in Claiborne parish which shares a border with Arkansas, in north Louisiana. With this being said, you may have acquired small picture of my subject’s hometown on this online interview.
Before stepping foot on the Louisiana State University campus I was also one of the many people who had not heard of Homer. This changed the day that my new neighbor in Baton Rouge introduced himself to me. As I walked away from our introduction to one another, I was left with many questions that I wished to be answered. First of which, where the hell is Homer? The LSU freshmen that lives into the same condominium complex as me, is about 5’10’’ with a stocky build. After meeting David, I realized that it was his truck which was blocking me in the previous evening, in the parking lot. The fact that David drives a truck was of no surprise to me due to his country accent and the abundance of people from rural areas, that I’ve met, who own trucks. David’s sister Amanda and I had also introduced ourselves to one another that day. Homer seemed to have yielded yet another unique individual in my perspective, in regards to Amanda. David and Amanda both talk with extremely soft voices and carry themselves in a manner that is very tranquil, as if they have never had a problem in their lives.
This encounter with the Haynes family was followed by a few weeks of separation between them and myself. This time spent away from my newly acquired neighbors, built up an abundance of eagerness to learn more about these people. In our first weeks of residence, David would often be found drinking a beer and sitting in the above-ground swimming pool that was constructed by him and his friends. Assuming that this was a commonly practiced custom in Homer, I did not think too much of this rare site of four college kids swimming together in a pool with a twelve foot diameter.
After my time in Greek Rush was completed, I noticed that David had also undergone the strenuous process of deciding which fraternity to pledge to. David’s choice was Kappa Alpha which was my second pick. Many of my friends from Shreveport had also joined “KA” and became good friends with David. At that time, I still wouldn’t consider myself a friend of David’s, just an acquaintance. My level of friendship with David was altered drastically when I approached him to do a student interview for my English 1001 class.
David and I both had a mutual understanding of the fact that Homer was a city in Louisiana that not too many people have heard of. This small town evidently posted no threat to David having a good time. A barrage of stories, which consisted of crazy country nights and Claiborne Academy football practices, led off our interview. David once found himself in the bed of a truck, speeding down a back-road, in the effort of evading the Claiborne Country Sherriff. The cause of this high-speed chase is still unknown to David yet he has a scar to prove the validity of this story. As his buddy, who was driving this belligerently intoxicated, slammed on the brakes to swerve off into a cornfield, David came flying towards the front of the truck. His head hit the back window, which cracked it and left David with a two-inch gash on the top of his head. David produced many other stories during our interview but none as interesting as that one. I cannot recall a time in my life when a night with my friends, unfolded remotely close to an event such as this one. The only explanation I can find for this is the distance that exists between Homer and Shreveport. A strange fact that David seemed eager to tell me was that the only Wal-Mart in the world to have closed down after opening, was located in Homer. The reason that the closing of this Wal-Mart was such a big deal to David was due to the fact that it was one of the few places for the younger residents of Homer to hang out on weekends. I can honestly say that a grocery store was never on my mind when considering somewhere to meet up with my friends on Friday night. Only a town such a Homer would be able to claim such a feat. David also enlightened me of what it was like to graduate with a class of twenty-one people and enter a state university with more than 40,000 students. “It’s a little different than back home,” was the phrase that David used to describe this change in his life. Knowing the name of everyone in his school didn’t seem to be as big of a deal to David as it was to me but I also didn’t live in a town as small as this one.
I think David’s upbringing in a small town such as Homer is the root of his personality. David doesn’t need to go out every night or get drunk to have a good time. He can sit around with a few of the guys and talk for hours and have as good of a time that “Tiger Land” could show him. I don’t believe that young people now, who grow up in a suburban area or in a big city, possess those qualities. Growing up in Homer was also advantageous in another sense. David was not affected by Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was brushed upon in our discussion but did not consume much of our time. He told me of a fund raiser that his school sponsored to help those in need yet he was not affected in the brutal way New Orleans was, due to the location of Homer in North Louisiana. David’s feelings towards those affected were summed up in the statement, “I guess it takes something big like that to make you put your life in perspective and thank God for what he has given you.” Knowing that someone who comes across as possessing the “tough-guy” image, could say something to that nature is hard to believe. This is an example of the effect that a tragic event can have on a large amount of people and how something like this can bring people closer together as it did to David and I, in our interview even though we weren’t directly affected by its damage.
Overall, it has truly been an experience to encounter someone such as David and have the time to get to know him and his family. This is truly a friendship that I believe I will maintain throughout my college and adult life. Realizing how a person’s beginning can affect their future was pointed out to me in this essay. This connection was made clear when descriptions of his home life and his current life were evident in my observations during our interview. This interview has produced a lifelong friend of mine and you and I can both now say that we have heard of Homer, Louisiana.