4 ms·

If you live in IA, MN, ND etc. (I'm sure other places, but these are the places I've lived), this story won't seem very out of the ordinary. Once when I was in

by blhack 16y ago

If you live in IA, MN, ND etc. (I'm sure other places, but these are the places I've lived), this story won't seem very out of the ordinary. Once when I was in college, I flew to Arizona for Thanksgiving, then back to ND on a Monday to go to class. When I got back, it was one of the worst snowstorms of the year. It was horrible. The school was closed, the roads had been closed that night, snow seemed to just be materializing out of nowhere; it was the type of storm you only experience when you live in the frozen, frozen north. Well I hadn't slept more than about an hour on the plane, and driving down a 4 lane sheet of ice with no sleep in a two wheel drive little sporty coupe when the visibility is measured in numbers of feet that are less than 100 is a nearly suicidal idea, so I pulled off to the side of the road. I pulled up the offramp, then back about 50 feet down on-ramp so that the trucks getting on the freeway wouldn't kill me. I [very, very stupidly] left the car idling for the heater, set my phone for a 15 minute nap, and went to sleep. Halfway through my nap, I hear BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM on the window, which did more to wake me up than the nap ever could have. It was a girl, probably 17, who had seen me stopped on the side of the road, and wanted to make sure I was okay. A high school aged girl that got out of her car in the freezing freezing cold during a horrible snowstorm to run up to some completely random car on the side of the freeway and make sure that the driver didn't need a ride. I've lived in Phoenix for about 5 years now. This sort of thing would never, ever happen here. In fact, Phoenix has had the opportunity [on several occasions] to prove me wrong about this, and has failed every single time. One summer, our family had a boat, and we were out having fun on Lake Pleasant. At what was probably the worst possible time, which was when we were near 100s of other boats, the fuel pump gave up on us. Not only did this mean that we were going to be floating towards the other boats (and the rocks, this lake is made of all rock), it meant that we didn't have any cell service (this area of the lake is in a cliff). Our boat, obviously disabled, was floating towards the other boats. Somebody is waving the orange flag we have around to let them know we're in trouble, my sisters and I are all in the water with ski ropes trying to pull the thing to safety and...nobody is helping. People are looking at us like "What the hell are you doing get out of OUR WAY!" Disgusting. We eventually got the motor running (limping, really) and made it out of the cove and into the main lake-almost-when the fuel pump died again. This time, we were in a narrow passage between a couple of rock outcroppings. Maybe 50-75 meters wide. Again, orange flag us up, sisters and I are in the water trying to keep the boat from hitting the rocks and...people are flying past us in the cigarette boats giving us the finger because we're in their way. Disgusting. I like this, "Today you...tomorrow me". A lot. There was a time when some completely lost kids on their way to a music festival walked past my house as I was unloading some lumber from the jeep. "HEY! Do you know where Kiwanis Park is!?" "Yeah, about 4 miles south of here." "What, seriously?" "Yeah, seriously, are you guys going to earth-dance?" "Yeah." "Well come over here and help me unload the rest of this wood and I'll give you a ride." There was another time when somebody came up to me to ask if I knew the bus schedule... "Why? Where are you going?" "Oh, well...North Phoenix." (about a 40 minute drive from where we were) "Huh, well I'll make you a deal. If you promise to do something nice for somebody tomorrow, I'll give you a ride there. Get in." The latest trend seems to be "rejection therapy". If this helps people, good, but I hate this. Can we instead please make the next trend "Make somebody's day every day for 30 days therapy"?

markng 16y ago
This sums up why I've had so much culture shock moving from the UK to Phoenix. People don't get it when I say that selfishness is what really hurts me here, not the heat or any of the other factors. That said, it's all of our fault. Every day, in this place, I feel myself getting a little more like everyone else here. Thanks for reminding me that I need to do better.
- blhack 16y ago
  There are good people in Phoenix, it's just that the jerks are yelling so so loudly that sometimes it can be hard to hear them. Out of curiosity, do you go to gangplank? Heatsync?
  - markng 16y ago
    Yes, there are, and I've found a bunch of them. I used to go to gangplank alot, but now I only get there about once or twice a month since I went from self-employment to normal employment. I've not been involved in Heatsync other than to see some of the cool things they do. I was lucky enough to meet a bunch of the founding people on the day they came into Gangplank 2 to start their collaboration, though.
pavel_lishin 16y ago
I think it's a matter of environment. Harsh, deadly environments build communities, because without one, you'd probably die. However, if you're living someplace that doesn't regularly try to kill you, you can be much more self-reliant, and expect that from others as well.
- boredguy8 16y ago
  I sure feels like summers in Phoenix are trying to kill you. Yeah, a few minutes research and I can't say I really agree with your hypothesis. According to the CDC, 1999-2003 there were 3,442 deaths due to excessive heat with Arizona having 1.7 deaths per 100,000 people. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5529a2.htm http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5529a2.htm So yes, Phoenix is trying to kill you, too. So there must be some other difference that causes social friendliness.

by blhack 16y ago

markng 16y ago

This sums up why I've had so much culture shock moving from the UK to Phoenix. People don't get it when I say that selfishness is what really hurts me here, not the heat or any of the other factors. That said, it's all of our fault. Every day, in this place, I feel myself getting a little more like everyone else here. Thanks for reminding me that I need to do better.

blhack 16y ago
There are good people in Phoenix, it's just that the jerks are yelling so so loudly that sometimes it can be hard to hear them. Out of curiosity, do you go to gangplank? Heatsync?
- markng 16y ago
  Yes, there are, and I've found a bunch of them. I used to go to gangplank alot, but now I only get there about once or twice a month since I went from self-employment to normal employment. I've not been involved in Heatsync other than to see some of the cool things they do. I was lucky enough to meet a bunch of the founding people on the day they came into Gangplank 2 to start their collaboration, though.

pavel_lishin 16y ago

I think it's a matter of environment. Harsh, deadly environments build communities, because without one, you'd probably die. However, if you're living someplace that doesn't regularly try to kill you, you can be much more self-reliant, and expect that from others as well.

boredguy8 16y ago
I sure feels like summers in Phoenix are trying to kill you. Yeah, a few minutes research and I can't say I really agree with your hypothesis. According to the CDC, 1999-2003 there were 3,442 deaths due to excessive heat with Arizona having 1.7 deaths per 100,000 people. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5529a2.htm http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5529a2.htm So yes, Phoenix is trying to kill you, too. So there must be some other difference that causes social friendliness.