Skin deep

Got this note from a friend yesterday:

The thing about the midwest is that every moment here is a brand new moment. There is no room for grief or loss. Only instantaneous smiles. People smile and are nice, almost as if their very life depended upon it. It starts getting more and more screwed up when they insist on smiling at you after screwing you over :-)

Made me think how my time in New York - the home of the stereotypically aggro and rude - brought out some of the best hidden positives in me. In comparison, my experience in the midwest seems to have made me more negative and cynical than I have been in years.

Bonglish pun, topical

Q. Do you have swine flu or not?
A. I'm not dead shuor.