Being Polite

While I was cursing Yahoo for being totally unable to log into anything over there, YIM, mail, etc., I came across this article about the most polite major city in the whole wide world. Wouldn't you know that NYC won hands down!!

Some people will be surprised at this, but I'm not. I didn't realize just how polite NYers are until I moved away from there some years ago. People talk to their neighbors, they look out for each other, all that sort of thing. The study in the article looked at opening doors, helping to pick up something dropped and salespeople saying thank you to customers. I suppose what does NYC in in terms of image is the fast pace. If you're not accustomed to that, it can come across as being blown off or brusqueness. But in my experience, once the local person becomes aware that they are dealing with a visitor, they will try to help out. There's also the tendency to being direct and straightforward in conversation, which can come across as rudeness. Think about it though, would you rather be told the bald truth, as they see it, or have someone lead you down the garden path? If you have no time for me, tell me so I can move on. anything else is passive agressive and no one wants that.

But that's not to say that people elsewhere are jerks, and my time living upstate has been hellish or whatever. Because that's not the case at all, I'm just saying that NYC has a tendency to be labled as rude and that is just not so. What does surprise me is that Toronto came in a distant third (behind Zurich.) I would have expected TO to be a lot higher than that because I have yet to meet a rude Canadian. I'm also surprised that no other major US city made even the top 20.. Yes, it's a world-wide poll, but you'd think that at least ONE other would get mentioned... Particularly those cities in regions frequently thought of as politeness personified. I suppose this is an area where one would have to dig into the research criteria and all that sort of thing. I also wonder if it really is a level playing field to have this be a world wide study and not take into considerations cultural differences and social norms.

Anyway, this was nice to see. And blogging about it certainly distracted me from my frustration at not being able to login to my Yahoo email.....

Upstate

I've lived in upstate NY for a little over 15 years now and for the most part I really like it. Beautiful country, nice people, and not that far away from home. My original purpose for moving here was school. Obviously I haven't been "in school" for 15 years, there were two when I lived in Northern Kentucky after undergrad, and when I moved back in 1998 I worked until I figured out my next move. Now that I've finished with school, I'm looking at my options.

My first choice, obviously, to me anyway, is to stay here. I've been here for most of my adult life and it's become home. And I really like where I live and the people I've surrounded myself with. But it's a bit frustrating because of the local job market. My first thought was that this is a Buffalo issue.. It's no news flash that the population here has been dwindling for years. But then I came across this article in the NYTimes. Seems that upstate in general is dwindling and it's due to a disappointing job market.

It's not that there are no jobs at all, but rather the kinds of jobs. I'm nearly 40 and have no desire to work in a call center or cashier. I've got student loans and all that sort of thing and I'm really tired of being poor. Which is what those jobs mean: you have a paycheck that barely covers living expenses and get treated like crap to boot. Jobs like that are perfect for kids just starting out, but not when you are trying to build a life for yourself.

It's not that I have a problem with moving to another part of the country, my job hunt is nationwide. What bothers me is that my hand seems to be forced. I don't particulary want to bounce around between four part time jobs. I want health insurance and a saving plan.

I suppose I'm jut frustrated. 15 years is a long time in a region. I hope I can stay here, but it's not looking good.

Painting like Pollock

I came across this website recently, that lets you paint like Pollock. Kind of. It lets you make digital, fairly random splatters and clicking the mouse will change colors. It's pretty cool and a fun way to pass time.

Thanks to way2busymom for the link!