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surreal Michigan friendliness
Jul. 30th, 2009 04:49 pmWell, we'd planned to drive up-state a bit again today, but the weather's been sprinkled with rain, so instead, we popped into a cafe with wifi and uploaded a bunch of pictures, and Kirsten's going to get some printed out to start putting together a scrap-book.
I'm still continually amazed by the absolutely ubiquitous friendliness by basically everyone in Michigan.
The only people I met that were assholes were a couple of TSA guys on the 1st of my trips here this year - I foolishly bothered them by responding to an announcement over the tannoy at Detroit that security rules had changed and travellers should check that they weren't packing anything that would be against the new regulations. So I rocked up and said "Hi, I just heard an announcement about the travel regulations, is there anything I should be aware of before travelling?" to which they responded "WHUT DID YOU SAY, BOY??" (I fucked off and asked someone at the travel desk instead).
However, other than that, everyone's been disconcertingly pleasant again. I suspect they plan my demise.
We were at a gas station and the dodgy-looking bloke in front of me looks at me and says something I don't catch... turns out he was just moving his stuff on the counter, because I was carrying lots and he was letting me know I could dump it all on the side... then I'm trying to find change to pay with and the guy behind us leans across me - my London instincts think UHOH! - and in fact, he's just popping a few pennies on the counter so we can get served quicker.
The whole trip's been like that... some guy at the cafe just told me I'd dropped something on the floor after I'd reached down to scoop up a receipt. Turns out it was my passport! I would, obviously, have been boned if I'd lost it and would most likely have struggled to tell where I had it last.
Some bloke in Meijer, after I asked where the ciggarette counter was, asks "Hey, are you from England?" "Yes... I am indeed..." he pounds his fist on the desk and grins widely, proclaiming "I LIKE THAT!"
It's a real job switching off the London instincts when someone's friendly to you! He spoke to me... STAB HIM! IT'S HIM OR ME!
So yeah!
Am just uploading pics and videos at the moment, this is the longest we've been in civilisation (by which I mean "somewhere with wifi") for the last week. We're starting to plan for the trip home on saturday, now. I could quite happily have another week off here :)
I'm still continually amazed by the absolutely ubiquitous friendliness by basically everyone in Michigan.
The only people I met that were assholes were a couple of TSA guys on the 1st of my trips here this year - I foolishly bothered them by responding to an announcement over the tannoy at Detroit that security rules had changed and travellers should check that they weren't packing anything that would be against the new regulations. So I rocked up and said "Hi, I just heard an announcement about the travel regulations, is there anything I should be aware of before travelling?" to which they responded "WHUT DID YOU SAY, BOY??" (I fucked off and asked someone at the travel desk instead).
However, other than that, everyone's been disconcertingly pleasant again. I suspect they plan my demise.
We were at a gas station and the dodgy-looking bloke in front of me looks at me and says something I don't catch... turns out he was just moving his stuff on the counter, because I was carrying lots and he was letting me know I could dump it all on the side... then I'm trying to find change to pay with and the guy behind us leans across me - my London instincts think UHOH! - and in fact, he's just popping a few pennies on the counter so we can get served quicker.
The whole trip's been like that... some guy at the cafe just told me I'd dropped something on the floor after I'd reached down to scoop up a receipt. Turns out it was my passport! I would, obviously, have been boned if I'd lost it and would most likely have struggled to tell where I had it last.
Some bloke in Meijer, after I asked where the ciggarette counter was, asks "Hey, are you from England?" "Yes... I am indeed..." he pounds his fist on the desk and grins widely, proclaiming "I LIKE THAT!"
It's a real job switching off the London instincts when someone's friendly to you! He spoke to me... STAB HIM! IT'S HIM OR ME!
So yeah!
Am just uploading pics and videos at the moment, this is the longest we've been in civilisation (by which I mean "somewhere with wifi") for the last week. We're starting to plan for the trip home on saturday, now. I could quite happily have another week off here :)
