Most and Least Stressful cities in the U.S.

[Momotaro]

It is fun to read about other people's experiences when shopping!

Let me know if anyone else out there has similar experiences regularly:

The best part of going into a store in our area of the country (George, Bubba) are the salespeople! Walk into a store, and you find those wonderful, employees of the month by the door being paid to give you a "welcome". Here it starts. I had better be on my best behavior to get a hello! Oh no! A half (more like quarter) hearted welcome, I must be a real piece of garbage. Well. I should be thankful for the welcome I got, after all, customers like me deserve to be ignored.
If you can't find what you need, you have to bother someone to help you. Oh, the humiliation of having to ask someone who is getting paid to serve you for service! ops: After the indignation of asking for and receiving some semblance of assistance, the awkward moment of payment occurs. You humbly bring your items to the cash register. Darn, the check out person is on the phone. I hope they don't mind putting down the phone to accept my money. Oh good! They are going to check me out while they continue to carry on that all too important conversation with their friend! I am glad I wasn't an inconvenience to them. Paid. Receipt in bag. Ready to go!
Hmmm..was I a good enough customer to warrant a thank you? After all I did not interrupt the phone call. I handed over my money as politely as I could. I smiled. I did all I could to let everyone in the store know what a privilege it was for me to do business with the store. I was as good a customer as I could possibly be. Nope! No thank you! Darn! I really need to be a better consumer. I really need to learn how to spend my money in a more polite, courteous manner!

Mike

[Scorpion]

See! I told ya!

[Scorpion]

Mike, you sound like Becker (the tv show).

I know what you mean!!!!

It is the same here with the damned walmarts. They get this half azzed people that are on the edge of dying. I once stood 30 minutes with my wife on one of the many check out lines. When we got to the register, the lady said "that bad uh?"

I almost ripped her head off and P*&% down her throath. Imbecile. I guess as I get older, I am getting more tolerant. If it was on my one turf, I would have done something illegal to that sewer sluge.

These posts in the lounge section are bad. I feel my bp going up. I must find a wall to punch...

[GulfCoastAquarian]

Oh man, but NJ is a shopper's paradise compared to MS! Have any of you guys ever walked into a muffler shop and had the shop owner tell you that he didn't feel like messing with your car right now? Yep, told me to go on and back it out because he didn't feel like welding a pipe I bought elsewhere. Lazy redneck scumbag is never going to get anywhere in life. It could have been the easiest $40 he ever paid, but he was so insulted that I brought a product that I bought elsewhere, he actually chose to just sit on his rear and do nothing.

How's that?

[Scorpion]

I am not surprised Sam. I've just rememered this. By Camp Shelby (a military reservation) next to Hattiesburg, MS there is a sign on one of those back roads that says "You are now entering white man's country" How is that for back woods rednecks!

[jread]

I can't believe how bad of service you guys get :shock:

It's nothing like that here, all the people I've encountered in the service industry have been great. Also, we don't have that whole "redneck" problem. In fact, Austin is about as opposite from redneck as it gets.

[Scorpion]

I agree about Austin Jread. One of the main reasons Colo Spgs is that way is because all the military retired personel. Many work part time and make more money form their pensions. The locals get mad or have been mad b/c many employers don't want to pay top dollar unless you are schooled. This town would have a serious adjustment if they pulled all four military installations.

[jread]

Originally Posted by Scorpion

I agree about Austin Jread. One of the main reasons Colo Spgs is that way is because all the military retired personel. Many work part time and make more money form their pensions. The locals get mad or have been mad b/c many employers don't want to pay top dollar unless you are schooled. This town would have a serious adjustment if they pulled all four military installations.

Seems like that anywhere you have a high concentration of old people.... dunno why. I have a friend who grew up in Florida and she said the whole place is EXACTLY like you described Colorado Springs. She said she generally gets better service from younger people.

Austin is a "young city". The average age here is only 29-years-old. That is VERY young considering we've got a city population of 680,000 and a metro population of 1.3 million. I think that most old people are too conservative to live in such an ultra-liberal place I hear that Boulder, CO is like a smaller Austin.

[GulfCoastAquarian]

Originally Posted by Scorpion

I am not surprised Sam. I've just rememered this. By Camp Shelby (a military reservation) next to Hattiesburg, MS there is a sign on one of those back roads that says "You are now entering white man's country" How is that for back woods rednecks!

ooooh, yeah, Hattiesburg has some serious ignorant folk there. I see bumper stickers there all the time that read "I don't care how you did things up north."

[Scorpion]

Boulder? Hell yeah! That is college town buddy. Univ of Colo at Boulder is there. My alma matter is here in town Univ of Colo at Colo Spgs-UCCS. I used to get so p*&%% off when the fees when up like 120% every semester. The reson? B/c all those crazy azz students at Boulder. They are wild! Trust me.

[jread]

Originally Posted by Scorpion

Boulder? Hell yeah! That is college town buddy. Univ of Colo at Boulder is there. My alma matter is here in town Univ of Colo at Colo Spgs-UCCS. I used to get so p*&%% off when the fees when up like 120% every semester. The reson? B/c all those crazy azz students at Boulder. They are wild! Trust me.

I've heard

I actually wanted to go there but I couldn't afford it

[jart]

[quote="GulfCoastAquarian"]New Orleans drivers are the WORST, haha. I thought NJ drivers were aggressive - they need to drive the Causeway at rush hour. Ruthless!

hey man when i was in the big easy last year i let my gf do the driving. i kept my eyes well shut.

[2la]

I don't think Tacoma's the most stressful place to live, but in it's defense(?) there's a horrendous gang problem there, and a lot of its people have to travel a brutal stretch of Interstate-5 to reach work in Seattle. That's normally a 25-minute drive with no traffic, but you can imagine what it is during rush hour, which is most of daylight hours. And if there's a major pile-up en route, fuggedhaboutit.

Now, I live in Portland, and aside from the dragging economy THERE'S NO WAY we even sniff the top 50 in this poll! I can only surmise that this poll was written by someone from Portland who doesn't want any more out-of-towners to claim some local realty!

And finally, after having lived in L.A. for four years, I can safely say that...

Chicagoans are THE craziest drivers ANYWHERE. I mean, they're bad in L.A., but Chi-Town drivers are hyperaggressive, and to hell with all of the white and yellow lines. If you so much as maintain speed for two seconds rather than accelerate endlessly, the car behind the car behind the car BEHIND the car behind you is passing you on the right. Even if the light not more than 50 feet ahead has been yellow for five seconds.

[jart]

Originally Posted by 2la

Chicagoans are THE craziest drivers ANYWHERE.

21a have you ever been to Boston? sheesh... i don't know if it's legal to drive there if your horn doesn't work.

[Fosty]

WOW My city, Lancaster, PA, was 110 out of 114 on the midsized cities. I guess people think its relaxing to see the amish people everywhere (no offense to any amish). Not too bad traffic unless you are in the city and you get stuck behind amish horse and buggy in rush hour that happens to go the same way you are going and there is no way to pass it.