--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_re...@...> wrote: > > Just for fun, since the business part of my trip is now done and I can > kick back and spend the rest of the time here having fun and gathering > more such impressions: > > * On the whole, the biggest surprise is how *friendly* most people have > been, especially those in service professions. This is a *big* > improvement over Europe, possibly because in many of those countries > waiters, waitresses, bartenders, etc. have their tips built in to the > tab and don't really have to act friendly to *get* a tip. But wherever > it comes from, the friendliness was appreciated.
Maybe you're appreciated as a foreign visitor. > > * To get more of a feel for the "common people," on this trip I didn't > rent a car, either in Santa Fe or here in Houston. As a result, I've > gotten to ride public transportation with the "great unwashed." Great > experience. All of the drivers and all of the people I've encountered > were friendly, outgoing, and a joy to interact with. It's almost as if > the poorer the people were, the friendlier they were. This may appear to be true throughout the world. But poverty is not a virtue to attrive for. > * By contrast, because of some business meetings and get-togethers with > friends, I have spent some time in high-end restaurants with wealthy, > "cosmopolitan" people. And again, it's almost as if the richer the > people were, the more superficial, less intelligent, and less likable > they were. The group of upscale Porsche-driving yuppies talking about > how they'd kill Obama if they had a chance the other night were from > this group. Highly driven people can be considered in "bondage" to their own ambitions. So, what's the advantage to that? > * One of the most fun things I've done here in Houston was to drop in to > a gun store / shooting range near my hotel. What a trip! Rented a Glock > 17 9mm long enough to fire off a few rounds, and then spent some time at > the bar (imagine that...a bar at a shooting range) talking with the gun > nuts. A sobering experience. I now know 1) my "eye" and my ability to > fire a handgun accurately is definitely a part of my youth, and probably > never to be recovered, and 2) more than I ever wanted to know about what > bullets do to a human body and what the euphemism "stopping power" > really means to the people who are afraid to leave the house without a > shitload of it strapped to their hips or stuffed into their purses. That's essentially the American symbol that's practiced more dramatically in Iraq and Afghanistan. Where have you been? > * Because I've been walking a lot, I've tended to notice other walkers. > In Santa Fe, there were a lot of them. It's a health-conscious city, and > lots of people walk long distances, at all hours of the day and night. > In Houston, I have often been the *only* person I've seen on the > sidewalks in the area I'm staying in (which is pretty high-rent, near > The Galleria and the Richmond club/bar/restaurant strip). Almost every > person I've talked with in Houston has asked the same question when they > found out I live in Spain: "Can you walk around safely there?" When I > tell them the answer is "Yes, at any hour of the day or night, and in > any neighborhood I have encountered in seven years," they look at me as > if I am crazy or lying. If you have something to lose, it may not be a good idea to walk around big cities at night in the USA. > * The Babe Report -- on the whole, I *majorly* prefer the women of New > Mexico over the women of Texas. New Mexico women wear far less makeup, > and need it less. They are generally more athletic and more > self-confident in their walk and in their talk. By contrast, many of the > Texas women I've seen here are WAY overly made-up and dependent on their > clothes and accessories to define who and what they are. Not my kinda > women, on the whole, although I'm here for a few more days and hope > springs eternal. :-) Keep hoping, you might get lucky...
