I rode a Greyhound bus from the Florida Keys to Phoenix, Arizona in July, 2013. You're really high up in such a bus. You're looking down at the drivers of 18-wheel rigs. I lost count of all the drivers I saw texting.

(May 19, 2015 at 1:17 pm)AFTT47 Wrote: I rode a Greyhound bus from the Florida Keys to Phoenix, Arizona in July, 2013. 

Good lord, what'd you do to deserve that?!

Quote:After all, they are morons. 

"Aye, there's the rub."

Hamlet, Act 3, Sc. 1

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(May 19, 2015 at 1:27 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote:

(May 19, 2015 at 1:17 pm)AFTT47 Wrote: I rode a Greyhound bus from the Florida Keys to Phoenix, Arizona in July, 2013. 

Good lord, what'd you do to deserve that?!

And why did you get off in Phoenix in July!!!!

I had proof a long time ago. I was about 13 when I realized that a majority of the people around me were drooling Neanderthals.

None of this surprises me in the least.

(May 19, 2015 at 1:27 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote:

(May 19, 2015 at 1:17 pm)AFTT47 Wrote: I rode a Greyhound bus from the Florida Keys to Phoenix, Arizona in July, 2013. 

Good lord, what'd you do to deserve that?!

I had to move. I planned to drive but my vehicle had other ideas. It died in Miami.

(May 19, 2015 at 2:21 pm)Faith No More Wrote: I had proof a long time ago.  I was about 13 when I realized that a majority of the people around me were drooling Neanderthals.

None of this surprises me in the least.

When my family fled the Iranian revolution in 1978, we landed in ... wait for it  ... East Texas. I went from a cosmopolitan private school with an international set of friends to a place where they thought anyone who'd been outside Camp County was "worldly".  I didn't know until that moment exactly what my parents' decision to move overseas had wrought in me -- but at that point, I realized, belatedly, that what we had lived was special ... in no large part because it kept me from ever being a normal American, ever again.

Once I understood that lesson, that horizons are moveable, I chased it with a vengeance.  And to hell with the yokels who worship at home and hearth.

Most people live in a little snowglobe, and never even realize it.

(May 19, 2015 at 8:27 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote:

(May 19, 2015 at 2:21 pm)Faith No More Wrote: I had proof a long time ago.  I was about 13 when I realized that a majority of the people around me were drooling Neanderthals.

None of this surprises me in the least.

When my family fled the Iranian revolution in 1978, we landed in ... wait for it  ... East Texas.

Wow you familt left an Islamic shithole fr a Christian one, no shade

I have respect for Shah Iran though, it'better than the Iran that's there today

(May 19, 2015 at 8:27 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: When my family fled the Iranian revolution in 1978, we landed in ... wait for it  ... East Texas. I went from a cosmopolitan private school with an international set of friends to a place where they thought anyone who'd been outside Camp County was "worldly".  I didn't know until that moment exactly what my parents' decision to move overseas had wrought in me -- but at that point, I realized, belatedly, that what we had lived was special ... in no large part because it kept me from ever being a normal American, ever again.

Once I understood that lesson, that horizons are moveable, I chased it with a vengeance.  And to hell with the yokels who worship at home and hearth.

Most people live in a little snowglobe, and never even realize it.

I haven't been to East Texas, but I do know that much of the gene pool in the panhandle is scrapings from the bottom of the barrel.   That must have been a true culture shock, because Texans are extremely insulated.  Even my own relatives look at me like I'm a foreigner, because I'm from Michigan.

(May 19, 2015 at 8:30 pm)Yeauxleaux Wrote: Wow you familt left an Islamic shithole fr a Christian one, no shade

Neither place was a shithole if you were an American, and the Shah's Iran was pretty secular.

(May 19, 2015 at 8:30 pm)Yeauxleaux Wrote: I have respect for Shah Iran though, it'better than the Iran that's there today

Perhaps. I don't think anyone here on this forum has much of an idea what things are like inside Iran currently. The Shah's regime was a brutal one, using torture as a means of punishment, with no respect for human rights (which is why Carter withdrew American support for him in 1977), who had no qualms at all about sending armored vehicles against his own people when they protested. I think the only real difference is the costumes the leaders wear, and the costumes they force the women to wear.

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(May 20, 2015 at 11:02 am)Faith No More Wrote: I haven't been to East Texas, but I do know that much of the gene pool in the panhandle is scrapings from the bottom of the barrel.   That must have been a true culture shock, because Texans are extremely insulated.  Even my own relatives look at me like I'm a foreigner, because I'm from Michigan.

I found (and still find) it frustrating, that they should take such pride in being so parochial. It should be noted that that wasn't just in Texas, though; a year after our return, we moved to Central California, and my schoolmates there were equally ignorant of the broader world.

I think this is because America is such a large country that it's hard enough for most Americans to learn much about the different parts of their own countries. 30-minutes news shows never left much time for international affairs. Most newspapers tend to bury world news on page 3 or 5.

East Texas is the closest you'll get to the Old South in this state -- the rest of the state is western, if you take my meaning, not southern. But East Texas is closer to Mississippi than Midland/Odessa, and it shows in every way.

(May 19, 2015 at 12:29 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: I see it all the time around here.  Fucking pathetic.

Same here.  I take a bus to work, and it's alarming the number of people who are using a smartphone while on the road (and in New York City traffic, where drivers are constantly taking risks).  I can recall one driver holding his phone up directly in front of his own face, apparently in order to read it while somehow keeping an eye on the road.  Most idiots have the phone at lap-level, which is dangerous enough since it forces you to take your eyes off the road, but they know that it's against the law to have a phone in your hand while you're behind the wheel.  But this guy didn't give a damn.

Not that they're the only ones.  I saw one woman using both hands to balance her breakfast while keeping her left pinky on the wheel.  While approaching a three-way intersection.  I'm just glad I'm moving out of this city.