There go the cool kids

My area keeps losing people. That's what happens when the major industries have left and others are slowly sputtering out. The economy is getting reduced to whatever is needed to service the prison and recreation industries.

I suppose I should be grateful that anything is left, but I'm not. All the cool kids have left town.

It's nothing new. Way back in the 70s when I graduated high school all the people with get up and go got up and left. The natural environment was more of a draw for me than the lights of the big city. I felt myself fortunate to land a job as a Firefighter. Unfortunately most of my friends left and few returned.

Every time we meet new and interesting people it seems that before too long they move away again. This area is only a stepping stone for anyone on any sort of career path. For those who fall in love with the area it's difficult to stay. Often the job that brought them into the area has moved on.

Yeah, it's annoying, but what's the big deal? One problem is that areas with static homogeneous populations are statistically less prosperous than more diverse areas. If you think about it, it makes sense. Someone from a different background sees things the locals miss. Sometimes we don't know what our strengths are.

Don't believe me? If you've ever travelled think about the places you've been. I bet you've seen opportunities the locals haven't. Here's an example. Some folks I know when for a vacation on a Caribbean island. Everyone's having a good time at the bar until the power on the island goes down. The bar closed because they couldn't run the blenders. How hard would it be to put up a couple solar panels, in the sunny Caribbean, to run a few blenders? I bet a beach bar that stayed open during a power outage would have all the business it could handle. Before long the rest of the bars would have figured it out.

Sometimes it takes an outside to introduce new ideas. It's safe to do what people in your area have always done.

As for myself, I just want interesting people to talk to. That's easy to do in communities that attract people from all over. Maybe that's one of the reasons I like travel so much. If they won't come to me I'll have to go to them.

-Sixbears