As I wander through this little world of mine, I am often perplexed at the arrogance and narrowmindedness of people. I've often found that this arrogance and narrowmindedness actually lends themselves to a better definition of complete and total stupidity!
One instance of this would be a small town...A small town that I have loved since I was a child. A town that seems to call for me, almost as if it is beckoning me to 'come home'.
Some years ago, this town was a thriving town, considering it's location. But as the years passed by and 'progress' happened, it has slowly dwindled.
There is a public school there. Some say it is great. Others say, not so much. Regardless, it isn't filled with gangster wanna-be's or big time drug dealers and the classrooms are small and manageable.
The rail road still travels through there and Amtrack has a Whistle Stop.
There is a bank, a post office, a court house, a couple of convenience stores, a feed store, a good dependable eatery, and a few other small places of business. But a metroplex it is not.
There is a nice park for the kids and an even better hiking trail to the top of a hill/mountain that overlooks the town. There is a quaint visitors center where a sweet lady can tell you just about anything factual you want to know about the area and the county. There is an RV park, a place to refill your propane bottles and there is a place that can work on your auto & tires. There are two real estate offices in the town as well.
There is a Hunter's Feast in the fall and a few other interesting gatherings throughout the year that can be fun for all and profitable for the town.
And there are some really wonderful people there...Unfortunately, not all of the wonderful people hold positions of leadership or status, which is a shame.
The largest convenience store & gas station is without a doubt the slowest, most aggravating convenience store I've ever had the displeasure of doing business with!
One of the realtors, while a kind and likable man, is also the least prompt businessman I've ever had to deal with!
A real estate agent once showed me a property & when said agent found out that I was a simple housewife and could offer neither big money or trade to the town, she was more or less done with me!
A business owner had a property I was interested in, but when I went to his business to inquire about it, he was busy shooting the bull with another person and never acknowledged my presence.
I recently sent another business owner an idea that would possibly help the town recieve good attention, since they are constantly saying they want tourism, and he scoffed at my idea. More or less said it was a silly idea & he wasn't interested in wide publicity for the town.
One person even told me, when I complained about the lack of prompt attention to a business matter, "We're a small town. We do things a lot slower in small towns than y'all do in big cities."
This struck me as hilarious because, you see, the town I grew up in, the town I often refer to as my 'home' was so small it wasn't even considered a town! Just a 'settlement'! But I well remember that if you called someone, they called you back immediately. If you walked into the store on the corner, they looked up and welcomed you or at the least, made eye contact with you. If you were new to the area, someone would stop in to welcome you. It might be your next door neighbor or the white haired ladies from the Baptist Church, but someone would take the time to say, "Welcome!" And if there was a 'happening', everyone called everyone else and got the word out. We wanted to be recognized & we liked as much piblicity as we could get!
So, as I ponder this subject, I find that this town might very well die, eventually, if these arrogant, selfserving people with their rude attitudes and lack of Texan-styled hospitality are allowed to represent this beautiful little town indefinitely.
If tourist passing through can not be waited on in a timely and polite manner, they will realize that they'd better stock up before leaving the big town and use their bank cards at the pumps.
If a realtor can not return your correspondence within 24 hours, regardless, then how in the heck can he sell properties?
If a realtor's agent isn't interested in your purchasing property because you aren't wealthy and can not or will not be bringing a business to the town, wouldn't that give anyone pause about relocating there to send their kids to a small, safe school?
If a 'leader' in the community was only interested in his chosen, and very limited, vocation in getting any word of this town, it's happenings & events out to the world, only because he fears it would cost him dollars in revenue, wouldn't that be selfserving and just a bit greedy? Especially if the proposed idea was free & had the ability to create more tourism for the town???
In closing, as crazy as it might sound, I would still like to one day be a resident of this town because I kind of have the feeling that they need an outspoken old woman like myself! I might not be able to change anything, but I guarantee you, I'd sure give 'em hell!!!
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