Just one word

A well known upscale boutique grocery store in the heart of our city drew us in the other day. Even the farm fresh eggs go beyond the basic choice of white or brown.

So imagine you have just opened this egg carton: Which color would you reach for first? Which would you reach for last?

Why?

Any ideas?

You do know of course that each egg will taste pretty much the same, regardless of its shell color.

OK, that was an easy question.

Now for a hard one:

What is the one word that you think sums up where you live: by that I mean describes what the people think about, and are like.

In Eat, Pray, Love, the author and a friend agree that Italian town (Rome?) was thinking only one thought: SEX

New York is thinking ACHIEVE

Los Angles is thinking: SUCCESS

A student and I just spent a half hour trying to define Salt Lake City.

We finally decided the one word that describes the people and what they think is: MISSION.

To explain: The LDS came here on a mission, and send out their people on missions. The LDS and non-LDS seem acutely aware of their life mission: be it training for an Olympic event, growing a garden, raising a family, teaching, shopping, eating out...everything seems to be colored by having an individual mission in life. Not necessarily to be the best, or better, but to take on a vision and make it happen little by little.

I did a Google search, another person suggested the word "Choir"; and yes, that captured part of the musical bent of the place, the performance aspect, but ultimately even the choir sings as a mission more than for entertainment.

We decided Las Vegas would be Cupidity: a seeking of money, greed, lust.

New Orleans: Indulgent

I laughed to read that Sodoma Arizona was described as the Vatican of the New Age Movement. Perhaps a word that combines cosmic and ethereal would work; I need to think.

Here's your question: One word for your town, city, or a place you have been.

Figure out a few words, then take a look at the words in a Thesaurus to see if there is an even better word. Talk it over with some one. It really is a conversation starter.

I told the student that the one word for San Diego would be BEAUTIFUL. That is the word that people have in their mind: being beautiful, having beautiful things and experiences, staying beautiful...

We were astonished to see that was exactly the word that several others on the Internet chose for my home town.

Especially if we are talking about La Jolla specifically.

(PS: I'd grab the golden yellow egg second in from the right on the top row. I'd save the dark brown one for last, just because it is so special looking I'd like to enjoy seeing for awhile.)