For those who have problems with rural Nebraska (Omaha, Washington: neighborhood, living)

[ehenningsen]

my experience with people who have something against rural areas of this country are this:

They have no facts to back up their beliefs, and they are most of the time the much less educated..

Almost everybody I talk to loves the country side here... And many talk about someday retiring in the country..

usually people who have these silly issues are the ones that 'have' issues...

[Sandhills Guru]

The only problem I have with rural Nebraska is sometimes I can't get enough it!!!!

[Dave1215]

Originally Posted by ehenningsen

my experience with people who have something against rural areas of this country are this:

They have no facts to back up their beliefs, and they are most of the time the much less educated..

Almost everybody I talk to loves the country side here... And many talk about someday retiring in the country..

usually people who have these silly issues are the ones that 'have' issues...

Originally Posted by Sandhills Guru

The only problem I have with rural Nebraska is sometimes I can't get enough it!!!!

[dcisive]

bgrams7...I'd say you pretty much nailed it. Having traveled through that part of the country for years for business, I found the people in the areas you speak of to be exactly as you say....no nonsense, easy to get along with, simple and not confusing to figure out at all. That to me is refreshing indeed.

[janzart]

You have to understand, if you are going to live here, in small town NE, the demographics are created with a very, small pop. A differing of opinion or stature from one million people is hardly perceived; but, when you are "different" among 1000 people, you will be noticed. I hate that rural Nebraskans can't bypass staring or commenting on someone who is different from themselves, but that's just something you have to deal with, out here. There are few newspapers and, of those, the editorials are "hate filled" sounding, so the rest of us who live here, open to the world, are judged accordingly. Please look for the pockets of moderates and liberals and otherwise well-read folk, because this would be a marvelous place to live if you moved here and added an open-minded personality to the harsh, but beautiful prairie.

[SCGranny]

That's odd, janzart; I find the editorials to be completely en pointe and sometimes downright incisively funny. Editorializing about what the Legislature is doing to help/hurt the rancher and farmer, how the new laws from "big city" Washington will hurt or help those who deal with cattle or corn every day, how the Farmer's Union or some other group is trying to improve representation... and sometimes how a rancher, male or female, deals with others from the city or from other ranches or other areas - all very rich and well-written. The one letter that made me sad was the young man who was told throughout his HS career that he needn't bother to go to college; but did so anyway and became a physician. Even he was upbeat, though, telling kids to not allow themselves to be pigeonholed just because they were different.

Of course people will look at 'different' people - and to be honest they will do it in a big city or a tiny town. People are intimidated by the different or the new, whether they admit it or not, whether you can see them reacting or not. But the whole idea is to not let others influence who and what you are - to not go into their "home" with the attitude that you want to take someting away or add something they may not want, but that you simply want to be a participating part of the whole. That's true everywhere. Sadly, a lot of people DEMAND that others look at them and react to them, never understanding that their immediate, often pathetic, and desperate need for attention is hurting them, discrediting them, and making them unhappy - no one else.

[mattpoulsen]

I think its worth noting that there are plenty of "well read" conservatives. For whatever reason you somehow believe that only moderates and liberals have an education. I would also add there are plenty of completely ignorant and uneducated liberals out there.

That said, I am a moderate, but I get tired of the condescending attitudes that come from both sides of the aisle.

[SCGranny]

I am a social liberal and a fiscal conservative - Do whatever you want to yourself and to your property, but don't be in my face demanding that I like it or have to accept it, don't come on my property to try to make me think, act, or believe the way you do, and don't expect me to pay for the results of the choices you make. Laissez faire. That's why I don't get along with fanatics or drama queens of any stripe, and that's why I am comfortable in most places where folks respect the rights and privacy of others. And - that's why I like small-town and rural Nebraska... everyone's too busy to mind every one else's business. They have enough work to do, minding their own.

[DTO Luv]

Originally Posted by SCGranny

And - that's why I like small-town and rural Nebraska... everyone's too busy to mind every one else's business. They have enough work to do, minding their own.

You're kidding right?

That's one of the main things about small towns is EVERYONE knows your business. I just moved my grandmother out of small town Nebraska to Omaha because everyone was in her business constantly and there was no where she could go to get away from it.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Happygolucky

I have traveled this state of Nebraska more than most and I can tell you first hand that folks that move into a small town are not treated the same as natives.

It's the outsider factor.

Holy cow. Drop Nebraska and insert any state and you'll be able to say the same thing.

Do YOU treat strangers the same as you treat people you've lived with many years?

Probably not.