[hotair2]

Originally Posted by txdave35

Nita, your sarcastic tude sounds typical Arkansan lol Seriously, even if people don't like me personally, I expect some decent customer service. Heck, I even went to Pizza Hut and the girl just shoves the pizza at me, here. No thank you. The fact that this happens 90% of the time is what shapes my negative perceptions.

I am not from Arkansas and Arkansas was not on my top 10 list for places that I would like to live, but making my wife happy was on that list. "Aint no one happy if mama is not happy". I certainly can see all of the negative points to Arkansas, but what I have been attempting to do is to focus on the good things that Arkansas has to offer. If I had a real choice as to whether I could leave or not, I would certainly leave, but since I am here I am trying to find the good and work to change the bad.

I am curious to know as to what part of Texas TxDave is from and why he came here to begin with. Just like Arkansas, Texas is wide and varied. Austin and Fort Worth could not be any more different.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Luvvarkansas

Dave, it sounds as though you are a person who doesn't adjust well to change....my husband is like that. He really would rather that things stay the same forever.

Now, I really want to be kind and show sympathy to you like I did the first time you posted here, but honestly, after reading all of your posts, you're beginning to sound like a rather sour person in general, and I'm beginning to suspect that your problems adjusting have more to do with you than anyone else.

I do love Arkansas, it's true, but I'm well aware that it's not perfect. No place is. Contentment has to be in our hearts before it can be anywhere else, though. If you have peace in your own heart you can make the best of the worst of situations.

good for you, sympathy is what you tried to offer Dave from the beginning. Most of us were defensive. I give you credit and you are right about adjusting and making the best of a situation. He just is not going to make any attempt.

No place is utopia as you mentioned. I too love AR but, of course I see things that I wish were different, and of course I miss many things about NM.Still AR has so much to offer. Dave loves Texas, I guess he thinks it is perfect, well we lived there for 13 years and I found it far from heaven..Did I even tell people from Texas I hated the place? No, because I didn't. I will admit I don't like the Cowboys or UT football.

As much as Texas was not for us, we certainly found things we liked about it and still miss certain aspects of the state...

Nita

[txdave35]

Originally Posted by hotair2

I am not from Arkansas and Arkansas was not on my top 10 list for places that I would like to live, but making my wife happy was on that list. "Aint no one happy if mama is not happy". I certainly can see all of the negative points to Arkansas, but what I have been attempting to do is to focus on the good things that Arkansas has to offer. If I had a real choice as to whether I could leave or not, I would certainly leave, but since I am here I am trying to find the good and work to change the bad.

I am curious to know as to what part of Texas TxDave is from and why he came here to begin with. Just like Arkansas, Texas is wide and varied. Austin and Fort Worth could not be any more different.

I'm from east texas, Tyler area. Maybe I am just spoiled by the super friendly people there. One time I had a flat tire, and within 5 minutes, someone had offered to help me. I seriously doubt that would ever happen here.

Maybe it's just a local thing with the Bryant/Benton area. I just rarely seem anyone smile or act nice here. Heck even tonight, I bought groceries and the clerk didn't even say a word to me. That annoys me. And a lot of these stuck up people claim to be God fearing Christians. What hypocrites!!

[joebaldknobber]

Texas Dave, did you go to John Tyler High School or Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler?

Originally Posted by txdave35

I'm from east texas, Tyler area. Maybe I am just spoiled by the super friendly people there. One time I had a flat tire, and within 5 minutes, someone had offered to help me. I seriously doubt that would ever happen here.

Maybe it's just a local thing with the Bryant/Benton area. I just rarely seem anyone smile or act nice here. Heck even tonight, I bought groceries and the clerk didn't even say a word to me. That annoys me. And a lot of these stuck up people claim to be God fearing Christians. What hypocrites!!

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by txdave35

I'm from east texas, Tyler area. Maybe I am just spoiled by the super friendly people there. One time I had a flat tire, and within 5 minutes, someone had offered to help me. I seriously doubt that would ever happen here.

Maybe it's just a local thing with the Bryant/Benton area. I just rarely seem anyone smile or act nice here. Heck even tonight, I bought groceries and the clerk didn't even say a word to me. That annoys me. And a lot of these stuck up people claim to be God fearing Christians. What hypocrites!!

And did you say hi to them? Everytime I go somewhere I say hi to almost everyone I see, quite often they say Hi first. I had a visa versa situation when I was shopping yesterday. Both grocery stores I shopped at, the employees went out of their way to be friendly...At one point I felt like saying, "ok, enough is enough, yes, I have found everything, yes, I am having a good day and yes, it is nice to see the sun".

I have gone to Western Sizzlen Steak House in Van Buren and had people in line start a conversation with me and I have stopped at gas stations to ask directions and thought the people were actually going to drive me to my destination they have been so nice.

What does you vertion of stuck up have to do with God fearing Christians? Hey, I have spend enough time in Tyler to know they too claim to be God fearing Christians as you put it...I have seen super friendly people in East Texas and some that were down right rude. You appear to be making no attempt to adjust to your life in AR. As long as you have to live here until you can find a job back in your beloved Texas you might as well get the chip off your shoulder. All you are doing is making your life miserable. If you are letting people at work know how you feel about AR or not trying to adjust you are right, people will not give you the time of day..

Nita

[northbound74]

I think most of txdave35's complaints are legitimate.
Little Rock isn't exactly the most pleasant town out there. The people generally couldn't care less if you are broke down on the side of the road, nor is the customer service very good. Just because they don't want to be your best friend doesn't mean they can't at least be personable when dealing with the public.
The side of the road problem is typical of modern cities of any size, but the bad service is an Arkansas thing, I'm convinced. It's the same story in most of the smaller towns I'm familiar with.

One thing the OP can do to make life easier, is to not ever talk about Texas. People in Arkansas don't want to hear it. They have enough of a hard time dealing with criticism, much less "my state is better than your state".

[bagelw]

Originally Posted by txdave35

I'm from east texas, Tyler area. Maybe I am just spoiled by the super friendly people there. One time I had a flat tire, and within 5 minutes, someone had offered to help me. I seriously doubt that would ever happen here.

Maybe it's just a local thing with the Bryant/Benton area. I just rarely seem anyone smile or act nice here. Heck even tonight, I bought groceries and the clerk didn't even say a word to me. That annoys me. And a lot of these stuck up people claim to be God fearing Christians. What hypocrites!!

Sounds to me like you're just not use to city life. People in smaller towns tend to be friendlier. You're now living in the suburbs of a fairly large city (at least compared to East Texas). People have different attitudes in larger cities and it sounds like you require some sort of friendly interaction or you can't handle things. Must be rough to have such a need for attention. Don't ever move further north than Arkansas.

[northbound74]

Originally Posted by bagelw

SDon't ever move further north than Arkansas.

From my personal experience, I'll tell you that when it comes to friendliness and common courtesy, nobody beats Minnesota.... even in Minneapolis, if not especially.
Iowa, Missouri, both area also very nice for the most part. KC is much more pleasant than Little Rock, from my personal experience. I'm not saying it's a better town, really, just more pleasant when dealing with other people.
The south has never had the market cornered on niceness. They only brag about it more, which tells me they probably aren't the nicest.

[bagelw]

Originally Posted by northbound74

From my personal experience, I'll tell you that when it comes to friendliness and common courtesy, nobody beats Minnesota.... even in Minneapolis, if not especially.
Iowa, Missouri, both area also very nice for the most part. KC is much more pleasant than Little Rock, from my personal experience. I'm not saying it's a better town, really, just more pleasant when dealing with other people.
The south has never had the market cornered on niceness. They only brag about it more, which tells me they probably aren't the nicest.

True. I was thinking more Northeast. I consider MN and MO as midwest.

[DC at the Ridge]

Everywhere I've lived or visited, people always smile, and chat. Sure, there's going to be somebody who's having a bad day who you're going to run into, but people respond to the treatment they're getting. If EVERY experience is a negative one, if the people you work with don't like you, if no one smiles at you or greets you, I've got to say it's time to look in the mirror. Because there has to be something in your expression, something about the way you're not meeting their eyes, something about how you respond to people, that is shutting them down. When you're at the grocery store and the clerk hands you your bag, do you look them in the eye and say thank you? When you're in the drive-thru getting a coffee in the morning, do you look at the person taking your money and remark on how you hope the weather clears up today? If you want people to connect with you, you've got to make the connection possible.