Maine Crabs

  I just had first my interactions with Maine residents. The first was an older man wearing a blue Greek fisherman's cap. We were awaiting the opening of the Freeport Community Library.
"They won't open a minute before 10:00. I like to come in here to read anything but the liberal press. I'm conservative."

"I'm liberal." I replied.

No response but a look of misbelief.

"Florida, where I come from is about half Democrat and half Republican but the GOP runs things there."

"I was in FEMA down in Florida on disaster relief. You can keep it."

"I like it here. I like how clean and cool it is. There are not bill boards clogging the roadside."

"Yes when Lady Bird Johnson got that bill passed they went crazy here too. They sawed all of them down." He sounded sadly nostalgic about the loss of signs.

The librarian opened the front door. A woman who had just walked up chimed in. "Where are you from. I wouldn't want to live there."

"Florida."

"I've been there. You can keep it."

The library serving  the town of 7000 people was splendid. It was nearly brand new, large and well appointed. Leather wing backed chairs, oak furniture, and a huge collection of new books. The building was sited in a large well tended  park. When I mentioned being in the Portland main  library the previous day she gave a grimace. That one had been full of street people getting out of the rain.

"Maine is a poor state and it is up to each town to pay for their own library." I thought that the big outlet mall downtown must pay lots of taxes to support such a grand library. When I told her that my library had been burned down by an arsonist a few years ago she asked where I lived.

"Florida."

She gave the same grimace again. "too hot there. I like it better here."

Fast forward a week and several hundred miles in Canada. Every person I met was engaging, helpful and friendly. No scows, only smiles. What was the difference? Then it came to me.

Back in the early eighteenth century the English defeated the French.the local French or Acadians were sent back to France or to Louisiana. That left a lot of unoccupied land for the English to occupy. Many came from Ireland and Scotland but quite a few were New England Settlers. I picture representatives of the King asking for volunteers to help out by pulling up roots and relocating farther north. The nice helpful people said, " Sure. Glad to help out. what every you need." The grumpy uncooperative ones refused to help and stayed in Maine. What resulted was one gene pool predominated by happy cooperative people and another gene pool with sour pusses. Makes sense.