The hills of Vermont are a great place to live. With the small town values and a strong sense of community, it’s great to live in an area where you can have a random conversation with a total stranger that you have seen around town.

Just this morning while doing my laundry I of course saw Carrol (Name changed for privacy), who is the laundry attendant. She is a great person always there with a smile and willing to lend a helping hand. But, then there was another lady sitting there doing her laundry. I still have no clue what her name was, but, I have seen her around town.

One of my favorite things to do is just take a drive and admire the scenery. For instance when I take trips with in the state or sometimes even outside the state I take what a lot of people consider back roads. However, they are major road ways and through fares. There of course is the option to take the interstate system but then you miss so much of the beauty and only get to see a never ending road littered with signs and advertisements.

Even so these types of occurrences are a rarity in this high speed day and age. I have noticed that when you travel to more populated areas, even here within Vermont people would just assume walk passed you than acknowledge you. It makes those environments feel hostile and inhuman. Even just a simple hi can make someone’s day no matter where you are.

However, in my opinion there is an even bigger problem that just that. Now I have worked in a number of fields throughout the years. Several of those jobs were in dealing with the public. Granted not all the jobs were dealing with people in the same type of setting. That didn’t seem to negate this issue; people are just too damn IMPATIENT.

Now days with the internet, drive through fast food, and cell phones, people want everything right away. One of my jobs is working at a chain retail store. Now it is a small community for the most part, however, we do have 2 ski areas within 10 miles of the store and the town as a whole.

I have noticed that taking this into consideration changes the demographic of clientele. The cashier might be working in a nearby aisle and not right at the register since there is always something to do. With the majority of locals they just calmly want at the register knowing some is nearby. However, when it comes to the out of starters or flatlanders as they are known, they start yelling for help. It is usually in the form of “Hello”, “Is There Anybody Working”, “Hurry Up, I’m In A Hurry”. To me it all comes back to the instant gratification that people get from the high speed world we currently live in.

So everyone out there reading this, take some time, slow down and be kind to your fellow human beings. Overall take time to stop and smell the roses.