[graciegirl]

I think Cappy makes several valid points. I think too that we are starting instant friendships with strangers thinking that age will negate a lot of other differences. That isn't true.

I think that our geographic origins and the way we were taught to expect or do certain things in certain situations plays a big role.

We easily begin new friendships here or expect friendly behavior from those we've just met and are "put off" by their "strange" responses. One new neighbor on the golf course said I was "fresh". (I had a dickens of a time finding out what "fresh" meant. It isn't a term used in Ohio. Someone bristled over my "Boy Howdy" which simply means "well, I'll be darned" to me and I thought everybody spoke Ohioese.

Midwesterners expect certain things that cause those from the coasts to think we are a little strange. People from certain area's use silence as soft disapproval where other areas HAVE TO HAVE the last word.

On top of this are the internet bullies, the newly affluent, the sick, the tired, the fiesty, the arrogant and the truly kind....all who have been that way for awhile or are trying out new personas.

There are a lot of "fresh starts" here and some invent their pasts to present to others.

In other words, we are older Americans most of us and we are thrown together in a new experience that really is making history on this planet.

I like that about this place and I hate that about this place. Sometimes I long for the way people acted pretty much the same back home.

But considering all that do I love it? You bet your sweet bippy I do.