[Hookie]

GoldenHolden, I think I can sum up Vermonters with a story. My wife and I were in the grocery store in St Johnsbury looking at Tomato soup. An old woman saw us looking at one kind and she pointed out that the other was cheaper, and handed us her coupon. Good, solid no BS people.

Another example: Our real estate agent and some of his friends unpacked our truck and helped us set up all our furniture when we moved, for free, just to be helpful.

Another: When we had to move , quite suddenly, we still owed a water tax bill. We got the bill in the mail with a note saying how sad they were that we wouldn't be living there. We never met this lady, but she wrote us a note anyway.

Old Vermonters are face value and see right through all facades. New vermonters..... well they're a different story. Either rich new yorkers or alternative lifestylers (hippies, gays, those who dropped out of society, yuppies looking for a new lifestyle, retirees) The great thing is that the old vermonters accept them all. The people are the best part of the state, except maybe the summers.

[twink5]

I don't know about any of these people, who are not from Vermont, but I was born in Burlington, and raised "down south" in West Dover and Wilmington. Vermonters are cool, we truly live and let live. yeah, there are ignorant hicks everywhere, but quite honestly, my experience of people has been that they try people out first, and if your are whatever color, creed, religion, whatever the F-**, we will see what you are truly about and then make judgement.

The funniest story I have to tell about Vermont actually took place in CA, when I told one of my soon to be ex-employees "come visit me in Vermont." She was a black woman from Oakland, "I'd be afraid to find a cross burning on the lawn." I was shocked, but could only reply, "No, you're thinking of New Hampshire."

The best story is when the second-home owner KKK people decided to hold a rally here in Wilmington (back in the 80s), the locals said "screw that" and our Chief of Police, one Augustine Fernendez, led the charge to arrest anyone how was illegally carrying a firearm, and the local populace was out wth "go home KKK" banners. We have no need for such BS. This was not our wish, to have such a rally, and we made it clear that hate-mongers were not welcome in our town.

Are there backward people here in Vermont? Yes, but we are not hate-mongers. None of us are hate-mongers. We do have a lot of second home owners (50% of homes in Vermont are second homes), but the native population is willing to let good people be good people.

We can't speak for the other half who own homes here.

If they are a-holes, they have to live with that.

Hopefully, they will eventually get a place in New Hampshire.