I drove up to Wisconsin to visit old Shotgun Bob over the fourth. His family lives a bit off the beaten path, as do the rest of the people in Rice Lake (Pop. 8,419). I found it relaxing.
We went to two fireworks displays, one in Rice Lake, another in nearby Shell Lake (Pop. 1,300). The people were nice and courteous to each other. Children didn't tear around shrieking and screaming. Likewise the adults kept their conversations to themselves. Pedestrians and traffic mixed easily.
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| Rice Lake |
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| Shell Lake |
You know what I didn't see?
I didn't see any litter on the ground. No discarded fast food wrappers, or cans, or bottles. No plastic bags, empty or otherwise. No used disposable diapers lying around.
I didn't meet any belligerent people. No one raised their voices, or yelled at each other across the street. There were no boom cars, or any rap music playing at any volume at all. No blowing of car horns to get traffic to move. No texting while driving - I watched, and although it's hard to believe, people actually concentrated on their driving.
No drunks. I didn't see any drunken people at all, anywhere.
No one throwing firecrackers.
The women didn't wear any overpowering perfume. The kind that produces a stench you can smell from thirty feet away when you're upwind. The crap that leaves a cloud of stench behind, so that when you're shopping for groceries you walk into a cloud of it and suddenly lose your appetite.
No BLM signs, no Biden signs. No peaceful demonstrations.
You know what else I didn't see? Police. I didn't see one single police vehicle or officer of the law at either fireworks display. I live in Columbus, Ohio, and I wouldn't attend a fireworks display in any major city in Ohio. Not even if I had a bullet proof vest, a machine gun, and eyes in the back of my head. Yet I felt perfectly comfortable sitting at both displays while unarmed. I just didn't see the need to pack my gat.
And finally, a rhetorical question: Was this a diverse crowd? Is the city population progressive?
Not just no. Hell no. I didn't see any blacks. No blacks blasting their music because it's a Black Thing, you wouldn't understand. White boy. No blacks, no litter, no noise pollution, no light pollution, no traffic nightmare, no boom cars. None of it. And no police, because without crime, why bother? Not even police directing traffic.
On our way out, a group of pedestrians stopped and allowed us to cross in our truck so we could get out on to Main Street. They had the right of way. When was the last time any of you ever saw that happen?
I wonder if I'm getting prejudice in my old age.
5 comments:
I live in a 9k town in western Ky. Last year we had a march of about 50 people who walked a mile to the courthouse got into their cars and left. No one carries a gun and crime is mostly the petty stuff. I use to live in Austin (shudder) for 20 years and am so glad to be gone from the pit it's turned into. I don't have live music or really great restaurants here but so far I've gotten by just fine. Great place to retire.
I live in Eastern Wisconsin, and I'd like to say that is what Wisconsin is like, but I'd bet that is the way things are in most states once you get away from the big city and out in the rural areas. Glad that you enjoyed your visit.
I don't think it's as much a black thing as it is an urban thing. The few black families residing in my town live here for the same reasons I do, safety and security, and peace and quiet. One of those families lives at one of the lakes and has large parties a couple of times in the summer that I have attended. Family oriented with great food and a good time.
It is the outsiders that come to break into cars or steal stuff out of your yard.
We can't even get the kids that use the disc park they turned our woods into to pick up. Can't get the university (Purdue Ft Wayne) to put barrels out for trash. 95% white disc golfers. It's not the race, it's the respect level.
Anon: I've heard the same thing about Austin, TX. At one time it was a nice city, then the D got hold of it and things changed. I'm glad you have a nice home in KY.
Neon Madman: I lived in Madison for two years. The winters were brutal, but the city was nice. My thought is that if you live in Milwaukee you're in a suburb of Chicago. I haven't been through all of Wisconsin, so I'm no expert on the rest of the state, but more than one person has expressed the opinion that it's the size of the town that matters.
Glypto: I have several black families in my little slice of mediocrity, and with one notable exception, they're all nice people.
CW: I think you've got that right. I was in Ft. Wayne on a contract once, and I didn't care for the place.
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