Sad. But also true.

I was just playing FarmTown on Facebook (I'm addicted), and I was chatting with this fellow farmer. She is from Indiana.
I told her I had lived in Indiana for two years.
Anyone who knows me also knows that I hated living in Indiana. Hated it. But, of course I didn't really focus on that while I was talking to her. I told her how I had lived in Bloomington, and how I always enjoyed the limestone churches and courthouses. She said her town had cute limestone buildings in it. Then I told her I had gone to the Indiana State Fair, and that I thought it was absolutely awesome (it really was). She told me about her town's blueberry festival. Then I told her that I didn't get to see much of Indiana, and would have liked to see the covered bridges and Amish towns. Then she said, "This is odd." "What?" I asked. "Nobody from out of state EVER says anything nice about Indiana," she answered. That's the sad and true part, in case any of you missed that.
As mentioned above, most of you know that I don't have too much nice stuff to say about Indiana. Those three or four things might truly be the only three or four things I liked about Indiana. Wait, I forgot...I loved the autumn leaves and fertile gardens. There, I think that makes five or six things, maybe. But seriously, so I didn't enjoy Indiana. There were nice things, of course, but not enough nice things to counteract how miserable I was! I am able to recognize that most of my reasons for hating Indiana actually had nothing to do with Indiana (hating my job, car problems, being far from family, tight finances, etc.). The point is, what a nice conversationist I would be if she said, "I'm from Indiana," and I replied, "I HATE INDIANA! IT'S SO AWFUL!" That would have gotten me far, huh?
And though you would think this would be common courtesy/common knowledge/common practice, I can't help but remember the time I told someone (a nameless someone, of course) that I was going to Disney World for my anniversary and they replied with a snooty "I will NEVER go to Disney. OR Florida for that matter."
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!
Or the time I was taking a transaction for a professor when I worked at the bank. He was quizzing me about my general existence, and when he found out that Adam was earning his masters in music, he famously said to me..."You know you are going to work your whole life since he has majored in that."
Yeah, thanks for that, Jerk. (the conversation went on a bit. He really was a jerk, I'm not just saying that from that one line. I believe I've blogged about this very conversation before! and how discouraging it is. And how many times I've had it said to me. And how you totally shouldn't lecture people (strangers) about this...okay, off the soapbox now)

Look, I'm no saint. I have Donald Duck fits. I'm not the most compassionate person in the universe. I read too much into what people say to me. I can be overly critical. But I can at least say about myself that I at least know how to have courteous conversation with strangers!