buby - usually my nickname gets shortened to “buddha.” this is the first time it’s been shortened to “rub.” not sure how to take this.
as far as the beef? it’s with ginger fist. i hate the arrogant attitude, especially coming from someone who’s supposedly studied for a while. makes me question his training, makes me question his trainer, makes me question a lot of things.
as far as poor white trash? most people i know in montana hate to be categorized with the pwt from the area, thus i chose what i felt would be a tasty treat of an insult – something to hit home about. it’s a low blow, but considering it’s ginger, you can be darn sure it was intentional.
as far as montana itself? the state is beautiful, and some really nice people choose happily to call montana home. i can’t and won’t, because i would never live away from the pacific ocean. my office is about five blocks from bellingham bay, and my house is about three miles from it.
in general opinion, i’ve grown up with some rather negative stereotypes of pretty much anything east of the cascade mountains (range that splits washington in two). i drove cross country with my brother a few years back, and i was hoping to dispell my stereotypes by actually seeing some positive things to the east. nature had some amazing things to offer, but in all honesty, the people didn’t. from olympia, wa to greenville, nc, the only decent and nice people i met during the trip were the poor black people in greenville, nc. what was so surprising about it was that everyone else in greenville was a c0ck to my brother and i, but as we were walking around town, we hit the poor part and, like good, wholesome northwest guys, greeted everyone evenly. some black folks said hi and questioned, “you’re not from around here, are you two.” my bro said no, we’re from washington state. why?" the guy responded, “well, because you’re white and you were actually nice to us.”
that pretty much ruined most of my hopes for having my stereotypes dispelled during that trip.
sigh. maybe next time. i know this is basing a whole lot on not much, but it’s all i have to go on.