Cultural Nuances

    It might seem odd, posing an investment portfolio manager within a cornfield. Professionals like him usually reside in urban or suburban areas. This man is cut from a different cloth. He prefers a rural lifestyle. His home is the state of Vermont.
    One of my best friends also lives in Vermont. He moved there after loosing a job near Boston, Massachusetts.
    He says there’s two types of people in Vermont. There’s New Yorkers who own second homes. Those people are wealthy. And there’s country folk of limited means. Many of those country folk earn their livings by performing maintenance jobs for the New Yorkers.
     My friend doesn’t fit in as a resident of Vermont. He’s not rich like the New Yorkers. And his outlook towards life is more cosmopolitan than the rural people. When he retires, my friend will return to Massachusetts.
    And now for my take on Vermont: My sense is that people there aren’t all that friendly. This don’t mean that Vermonters are hostile. They're just not as outgoing as people elsewhere in the nation. There’s an insularity to people in Vermont.
    Across the Connecticut River from Vermont is New Hampshire. That state also has large swaths of rural area. Those people are friendlier. I relate to strangers in New Hampshire better than strangers in Vermont.
    I made a similar differentiation while in Africa. The people I met in Zimbabwe were friendly and easy going. That attitude is common among the Shona Tribe. Then I crossed the Limpopo River to South Africa. No more Shona tribesman. People in South Africa seemed aggressive and less friendly.
    It’s been said that people everywhere are basically the same. In many ways they are. But there are noticeable differences.
    Some places are friendlier than others.