Quote:
Originally Posted by KY Filly
Please don't take this the wrong way - not trying to appear as defensive. What exactly do you mean by "sour aura"? I'm very curious. I've lived in Louisville for 38 years and will soon be relocating to San Antonio, TX. Looking forward to the adventure and all that, but sad to leave the wonderful friends (and family) we have here. Back to my point.....I've found Louisville to be a wonderful place to live and the people to be friendly...for the most part. I'm an upbeat, positive person and do notice that there are folks who always look on the "bad" side of things or who frequently want to complain. I just figure that's the way it is everywhere....some people want to have a half empty glass rather than a half full glass. So, is that what you mean or something else? I just found it to be an interesting statement.  |
First, great success to you in San Antonio. I agree, it's a great city. Of course, it's in Texas, so that makes it all the better!
Second, I'm glad you should bring the "sour aura" point up. I learned this the hard way just in the 9 months I lived in Louisville, plus the 2.5 years I commuted to Louisville for college from my parents' house one hour outside of the city.
When I moved to Louisville, I moved there neither excited nor dreadful, to be honest. I went for the experience. What I found was three different churches; I found one I liked, but have since moved from Louisville and haven't been able to attend it. In the other two I found plenty of nasty, vile, snippy people who have little friendliess or courtesy for others. And many that were friendly were a very
fake friendly. Examples include one college girl at church who I had never met just slammed a doughnut in my hand one day and told me to "hold it for her." No please, thank you, smile, anything. I was shocked, speechless, and later p*ssed. That was the last time I returned to that church (initials CCBC) after visiting
plenty of times.
Before that, another example is the time I went on a trip to the Smokies with CCBC in their college group, and we were tubing in a river. Following the natural course of the water, I just drifted in to part of the group. No big deal, right? This one girl completely kicks my tube as hard as she could so as to not be in "her" little circle of 10 people or so. W-T-F? I never snubbed her. I was always polite, smiling, and pleasant toward and around her. I wish I was making this up, but I'm not. Once again, I was shocked, speechless, and later p*ssed.
As a student at the University of Louisville or a shopper out in the community at Oxmoor, St. Matthews, whereever, whenever I would hold a door for a lady, I'd only receive a "thanks" or something about 25% of the time. Sometimes, I just got cold stares or smart a** remarks.
The
three worst service experiences I've ever received while dining out were not in NYC, Atlanta, Florida, Pennsylvania, or other northern or large urban locales. They were in Louisville.
I took my laptop, which was under warranty at Circuit City, to the store in St. Matthews. From the first second I dropped it off to the last second I spent picking it up, all I ever got from the customer service associates was ZERO personality. Now, I understand everywhere that people don't enjoy their jobs and that may be reflected in the way they treat other people. But, what cited was wrong with my computer was that a virus had gotten into it and the hard drive had to be completely cleared. No big deal under warranty, right? My warranty said it would cover that. NOBODY in the store would let me leave with my laptop until I paid a $30 "service" and "shipping and 'assessment'" fee. W-T-F? After some "polite" argumentation, I paid it. I never "showed myself." I asked for a receipt, and they even acted figety about that. No thank you, as you can imagine.
Now, I did not go up there looking for the "bad." I did not try to find "bad" people to hang around. I like to consider myself a friendly, outgoing, and (you might find this hard to believe) positive person. I know bad experiences can be found anywhere and that nice and mean people exist everywhere. I know no place is a
perfect place to live. But in Louisville, bad experiences seemed to have
found me. Sure, at first I made friends and good acquaintences, but they were not from Louisville. (Maybe this was God's way of telling me I should've attended college elsewhere, lol.) Now, I have friends
from actual Louisville, but it took
three years to find and/or make those friends.
I attended university functions and games, organizations, and searched for the right church. I didn't go there with a negative attitude. Louisville's not a "big, bad, mean city." It's
not that big, the crime rate is
not very high, and it's
not a
rushed or
pushy city. I don't mind those traits at all. I really like many urban areas, what they have to offer, and the great contributions they make to their states' economies. But, I was sorely disappointed in my experience in Louisville. The unfriendliness itself is one half of it. The other half was the unfriendliness
in spite of Louisville's banters that it's a charming, friendly, charitable city. For the positives, I love the historic neighborhoods and great, hole-in-the-wall restaurants. I love the fact that Louisville is not a cookie-cutter city. I love the beauty of the UofL Belknap campus. I like the fact that the quality of life there is much higher than most places in this rural hole that is Kentucky. I like the large arts scene there considering it's a small metropolitan area. So, this paragraph states why I have a "like-love-hate" relationship with Louisville, leaning more toward hate.
For the terminus ad quem of my ramble, I also find most of the state to have the "sour aura" thing going on, where if folks in communities don't know you, you'll just have a heck of a hard time finding a niche. I'm a Ky. native, but have lived in four different communities across the state, so I know what I'm talking about. Kentucky is not the state for me, except for horse farms, Ale-8-1 and mutton BBQ (which are things I'd miss.)
