B19 wrote:
Some states seemed to have more of the "uglies" than others, though for the sake of not starting a war, I am not brave enough to name them.
I noticed something similar years ago when driving from Florida to North Carolina (in two stretches separated by a few years). During the course of those two trips I noticed that the farther north you went the worse the roads became, the better the drivers became and the more friendly the people became. During one trip from Melbourne, FL to Atlanta in 1985, I started out among really unfriendly people, great roads and lousy drivers. When I crossed the state line into GA, the roads were worse with better drivers as I stopped in Valdosta to get a quick hamburger. The young black guy who served me at that fast food restaurant was so friendly to me that it nearly overwhelmed me like a tidal wave rolling over me.
B19 wrote:
states that make a great show of guns and flags are not particularly congenial to the kiwi way of life and thinking.
It's too bad that the US is not more like NZ in this respect. Unfortunately we seem to have that guns and glory, might makes right mentality.
B19 wrote:
Some cities that were in my personal experience completely ugly-free were: Tampa... and Austin, TX
I have to agree with two places on your list completely. I originally came from GA but grew up in Tampa and always noticed a big difference between the west and east coasts of the state. Tampa was a wonderfully relaxed and friendly place in the 1950s and early 1970s. I have not been back since 1980 and have been told that it is a much larger and very different place now. The east coast always impressed me as being snobbish and xenophobic, rejecting outsiders in much the same manner that they reject "snowbirds" from up north. I lived in Melbourne for a year in 1985 and was never able to break through this mentality in spite of pleas from one guy to the others to accept me. People hated me so much that in that same place I'm pretty sure that one guy is the one who burglarized my apartment and stole my car one night (I never went back again). I also lived in Austin during the mid 1960s and found that to be a very likeable place. I did experience some bullying there but to a great extent it was bullying with a friendly twist to it. I also notice that you omitted Atlanta from your list (or maybe you just never came here). I've lived in Atlanta in two stretches from 1968-1973 and from 1993 to the present time. Atlanta is both larger and different now than it was back then. It is less friendly now. Atlanta is often billed as a city that is "Too Busy To Hate", but too many people here take time out from their busy lives to hate just for the thrill they get from it. I'm experiencing this kind of hate and intimidation from two different groups of people right now as I am writing this.