re: island life ~
it’s funny, where i’m from most people have a stereotype of being rude. in fact, once, waiting on line in Foorth*, I overheard some women talking about people from my region as being ‘all from the mafia’. I thought that was funny, since i was dating the son of someone from the mafia, while my dad grew up next to the house that inspired the Godfather. they kinda werent wrong. and when i spoke to them and they heard my accent, they became very awkward. sorry, ladies!
anyway. here we run on island time. and everyone is pretty kind. no one wants bad for others, they just have a lot of stuff to do to avoid ‘bad’ for themselves. plus, theres so much to do here. want to hit the beach and surf? find a river to explore via kayak? fish? hunt? hike? love museums - both indoor and outdoor? laser tag? escape rooms? or are you a history buff and you wanna see where most of the US revolution was won? or are you curious for niche stores, holes in the wall that make you feel really fucking special, like a crack in an ancient chinese pot being filled with gold. want to eat anything you could possibly imagine? there are 8 different thai food restaurants near me, all mom and pops and originally from thailand.. authentic as fuck. there’s a mall half a mile away, yet i live on a fully sustaining homestead on 5.2 acres. other than the occaisional police/ fire siren, i’d never even know there were other people around. yet, im surrounded by hundreds of thousands. people who would give the shirt off their back. who would help as much as they could. when i was stranded on the side of the road in colorado, 89.4 miles from the nearest gas station, im sure someone would’ve helped me... but no one could. but here, when i sit down on the side of the road to do some ab work on my run, 8 people will stop and ask me if im okay. theyll offer me a ride, or to sit with me while someone shows up.
even though my region is known for a high cost of living, we all do things ‘off the books’ for each other to help out. i raised some chickens and gave them to a guy, who comes by once a month and fixes fences/ does electrical work. growing up, my dad (who publishes books and training courses) would give free courses and books to people to get me lessons. there is a major agricultural environment here, where i give my neighbors eggs and they give me squash. i give them compost and they give me watermelon. i give them mason jars and they give me peaches. and when we wanna party, we party hard in the greatest city on the planet.
*Name changed.