Des Moines area : good idea? (Cedar Rapids, Iowa City: section 8, transplants, condos)

[tollfree]

Originally Posted by duster1979

Or maybe you need to stop looking at the same car over and over again. I just walked out to the parking lot; out of 12 cars, 4 had bumper stickers:

Car 1 had 3: "I support clean TV," one that had been a quote about prayer but was mostly illegible, and a AAA sticker.

Car 2 had 2: "My horse is more pampered than my husband" and "A woman's place is on a horse."

Car 3 had two American flags.

Car 4 had a Ron Paul 2012 sticker.

Not sure where you are, but they are all over WDM and downtown. You'll see quite a few on Ingersoll too.

[duster1979]

Here's how it works. Person doesn't like the place he lives. Not diverse enough, not urban enough, not "cool" enough. So when he interacts with people he makes it a point to tell them how lame he thinks the place is compared to other places.

But maybe the people he's complaining to - coworkers, fellow cub members, friends (if he has any) - like the place. So these folks feel compelled to speak up on behalf of the place in it's defense.

Person considers this defense to be cheerleading, and some sort of indication that these other people think their place is just as good as every other place. So now he feels he has to speak in condescending tones about the people who live in the place as well as the place itself.

Which compels them to defend themselves as well as the place, which he considers even more cheerleading. He's now consumed with the idea that every resident of the place is on fire with the spirit of convincing themselves and the rest of the world that their place is the best of all, to the point where now he considers any small show of civic pride nothing more than further evidence of the irrational fanaticism that virtually all residents of the place engage in.

When in fact if he had just kept his negative opinions about the place to himself they never really would have put all that much thought into it at all.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by duster1979

Or maybe you need to stop looking at the same car over and over again. I just walked out to the parking lot; out of 12 cars, 4 had bumper stickers:

Car 1 had 3: "I support clean TV," one that had been a quote about prayer but was mostly illegible, and a AAA sticker.

Car 2 had 2: "My horse is more pampered than my husband" and "A woman's place is on a horse."

Car 3 had two American flags.

Car 4 had a Ron Paul 2012 sticker.

I always pay attention to bumper stickers/magnets on cars. I've never seen a native one...and honestly? I can't say I've seen many Hawkeye/Cyclones ones, either.

If I see college ones I seem to see Drake ones most.

But I guess I'm not driving in the right areas on the right days and seeing the right cars.

[ElleTea]

I want to apologize to the OP if they are still out there. Hopefully they can read through all the ridiculousness and get some sort of answer to their questions

[duster1979]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

I want to apologize to the OP if they are still out there. Hopefully they can read through all the ridiculousness and get some sort of answer to their questions

By now he or she has probably decided that rural Illinois isn't so bad after all!

[tollfree]

Look, duster. There is a stronger fanaticism in Iowa than most states. I can prove this on an abacus.

It's ignorant to naively believe everywhere is the same.

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Not sure where you are, but they are all over WDM and downtown. You'll see quite a few on Ingersoll too.

I've never seen one of these either.

I've seen plenty of "my kid's an honor student" ones (which are like finger nails on a chalk board to me for some reason) but not these.

.

[tdagarim]

Originally Posted by duster1979

By now he or she has probably decided that rural Illinois isn't so bad after all!

Nope, I still hate it.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Look, duster. There is a stronger fanaticism in Iowa than most states. I can prove this on an abacus.

It's ignorant to naively believe everywhere is the same.

PLEASE prove this...on something other than an abacus. And in a way other than your personal experience which none of us here seem to share.

Seriously, if I was looking to move to a state and found so many were proud of it and defended it as fiercely as you claim, I'd think that state must be pretty damn awesome to have "brain washed" so many so effectively!

[smpliving]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

PLEASE prove this...on something other than an abacus. And in a way other than your personal experience which none of us here seem to share.

Seriously, if I was looking to move to a state and found so many were proud of it and defended it as fiercely as you claim, I'd think that state must be pretty damn awesome to have "brain washed" so many so effectively!