Quote:
Originally Posted by rousseau
It's the bleakest city I've ever been to in my life, plopped right down in the middle of the least appealing part of the U.S.: the midwest. Ann Arbor stands out a bit for its academic atmosphere and collegiate sports, though not enough to really ameliorate the passive-aggressive dourness and prickliness smothering a general uneasiness and repressed tendency to violence (mixed in with the other multitudinous aspects of American culture and society that I hate, etc.).
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Never quite thought of it in such explicit terms before, but now that you mention it, it rings true - the dourness and prickliness in particular. And it's funny to see that considering what a prosperous society they have. I wonder if the Americans have gone a little too far in the direction of individualism and away from the idea of community, where you and someone from the other side of town might have a common interest... you don't have to press an American very long to start hearing about how everyone else (Democrats, Republicans, white people, black people, immigrants, US-born citizens, businesspeople, welfare recipients, etc.) is taking advantage of him and is out to get him.
As to Chatham, the idea of being an hour away from other legitimate cities (even if they're Detroit and London) sounds like a wonderful fantastical dream to this prairie person's ears.