Culture shock

Shock might be a bit strong, but there are a few things that I am having to adjust to as I complete my 4th week here in south Texas.

Customer Service. Not only are the checkout/front-desk type people polite, smiling, attentive, but about half are down right chatty. I stopped into the UPS store today to buy stamps and the guy at the register asked how my Thanksgiving was! I had a whole conversation about salad dressing with the check-out guy at the grocery store, and the retail sales chic at the swim suit shop asked if I was going on vacation. This evening, I was spending a lot of time examining the varieties of apples I've never heard of, when a guy who worked there stopped in his tracks to ask if I needed help finding an apple!

Which brings me to the next item: Ginormous Grocery Stores. Every grocery store is as big as the biggest Super-Walmart you've ever been in. I have to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to find the door I entered through. I may not walk to the store anymore, but I must walk a couple miles each time I'm in one of these damn places looking for something. The big grocery chain in Texas is the H.E.B. (It's good but nothing compares to Central Market, which will get a posting of its own someday). You should see the selection of barbecue sauce - seriously half the aisle. I tried using a cart once, it didn't go well.

While we're shopping, let me tell you about Store Hours. Clothing stores close at 6 or 7 latest! This is difficult when one is used to shopping til 9. Also, the nearest H&M is in Phoenix, AZ. BUT San Antonio has pretty much every other clothing store you can name (Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, etc., etc).

Weather, or people's lack of appreciation for it. Every day that I go outside and it's sunny and 70 degrees, I'm ready to throw a party. During work on Friday, I walked out to the parking lot to get a snack from my car (I store nonperishable goods in my trunk), and another person walked past me - someone who also worked there, but who I didn't know. In New York, this person and I would have smiled and said "gorgeous out today!" because these days are so rare that it puts everyone in a super good, friendly mood. But instead it was just me grinning like a freak and the other person going about their business. And if I DO mention to someone how nice the weather is, they say, "yeah thank goodness it's cooled off finally," because this past summer, there was a record-breaking heat wave (over 60 days of 100+ degrees) and drought in TX, while NY was getting rained on.

OK, that's all I've got for now.