So, after 7 days of being a tourist with my family and having them here in our little 2 bedroom townhouse they are on their way back to Kansas.  We had our ups, downs, laughs and cries.  We visited Ikea, the river for a fancy seafood dinner, Ocean City, DC (again) including the Jefferson Memorial and Holocaust Museum, Mount Vernon and the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.  Needless to say the family kept us super busy.  Which is not a bad thing at all since I've spent most of my time here sitting at home with my beautiful little doggie since I moved two months ago.  It felt like we haven't been miles apart for two months which had both it's ups and downs.  Needless to say it was a typical Ritter vacation.  A little stressful, pretty fun but a bonding time for all.

I feel like when people from Kansas come out here and visit me I can definitely see the differences between the Midwest and the East coast.  Which there are... plenty.
EXAMPLES:

1. People here do not under any circumstances sit back and smell the roses.  They are way too busy to give a crap what you are thinking usually and don't even try to get to know you for who you are.  I thought I'd enjoy living out here because it seems an awful lot like where I came from in Kansas as far as the landscape (just with more trees), but out of all my neighbors in our little complex... ONE of them has introduced himself and continues to say 'hello' every time he sees me out and about.  Where I come from... we knew all our neighbors and had conversations with them frequently.
2. People here drive with absolutely no courtesy.  The turn signals built into EVERY car, are never used here.  Not even when they cut you off two inches from your front and the person in front of you's rear bumper.  It's crazy.  Which doesn't even include the posted speed limits that are not even remotely followed.  Either people are going five below in the slow lane, or twenty-ish over in the fast lane.  There is no happy median.  So those of you that think people from the Midwest are crazy drivers... feel free to take a spin in my car one day and see how you feel. Ha ha.
3. People here often lack customer service (except at CiCi's Pizza).  Just like the Midwest, Wal-Mart employees are rude.  But so is like everyone else.  The other day we were at one of Rob's favorites restaurants... Cantler's Riverside Inn.  A really cool seafood place (the one mentioned above) down by the water.  Well we waited for well over an hour I think, but the hostess couldn't tell us how long the wait would be, and then she complained to her co-workers about how she was basically scared.  She didn't want to be left alone.  Then when we finally got sat, we were sat in the section of a waitress that I overheard telling said hostess that she did not want us to be sat in her section.  Really? I CAN HEAR YOU.  Little things like that happen fairly often here.  Maybe you guys are all in the wrong business... ever thought of that?

I could let my list go on... but then I'd be here for awhile.  For the most part it is a great experience but every once in awhile I come across something that really makes me miss the Midwest.  It seems so serene compared to here.  Really.

Well, that's enough of me ranting.  I'm going to go cuddle with Piston (who hasn't been feeling the best for the past couple of days) and watch the World Series of Poker.  Don't yall wish you were me? :D




P.S. Thank you Mom, Dad and Erin for coming out and visiting me.  I had fun, I hope you had some too.