Don't make this my problem

I lived in the North for many years. North of the USA, if you are wondering (or care), more notably, the Northeast.

I used to come to Florida quite often, escaping not only the cold weather, but also I what I perceived as people's coldness. I used to find people up there to be cold, selfish, and impolite. Whenever I came to South Florida, I found the going much easier, people eager to help and polite, etc.

After a while, moving to South Florida became a dream, almost an obsession. My stays in South Beach were a daily, sweet recollection, and changing residence became a goal.

Eventually I did move. In fact, I moved right after the last hurricane had wreaked havoc in the Miami area, so I guess, people were a bit edgy.

I had a bit of a problem with the phone company, for almost obvious reasons, so, for a while, I had to live and run a business through cell phones and depending on friends to run credit card sales from land lines.

I was relieved when I found an internet cafe nearby the apartment building. I needed to have internet access immediately, and it was a Godsend.

I began to make small talk to the person running the joint (the only one there). She was very curt and said, "DON'T MAKE THIS MY PROBLEM!!!!"

So much for a warm welcome!

I found out that quick holidays and frequenting good restaurants and shops in South Beach was one thing, actually living in South Florida, dealing with everything and everyone else, quite another.

I suppose the real estate crisis and ensuing economic woes made things worse. But the reality is, living here you have to deal with a lot of impoliteness, selfishness, coldness, in addition to incompetence and laziness, in addition to crazy driving at I95. I hate to generalize things, but this is more the norm than the exception.

Yes, the climate is great, no hurricane has come this way since then, but quite honestly, on a personal level, South Florida living is way different than a South Florida vacation.