Differences

People are always wondering if it was a big culture shock moving to MT after living in CA. It is funny, but the culture shock didn't come when we moved here; it hit when we returned to CA after living here for a while. The differences are many, but the most noticeable are the traffic, the crowdedness (pretty sure that's not a word) and the obsession with appearances (personal, cars, fashion) in Southern California. One small, but wonderful, difference is the post office. When I lived in San Diego the post office was one of my very least favorite errands second only to shopping at Walmart (which I avoided almost like the plague, until I had a very long, necessary list and had no choice but to go and wade through the stacked to the ceiling, unorganized, too-thin aisles - ugh). Things sat around gathering dust until I rustled up the gumption to withstand the misery of the post office. And I didn't go to places like Mailboxes, Etc. because I am too cheap to pay the surcharges, and the lines were just about as long there anyway. When we moved here I was amazed at how easy and quick a visit to the post office was. In Columbia Falls, the longest I ever waited was 10 minutes - AT CHRISTMASTIME. In Lakeside, where we now live, I have only had one person in front of me at any time. In East Glacier, the only waiting is for the attendant to come after you ring the bell at the counter. Now, I know it isn't always this way - the Kalispell main office is busy and I have waited 15 minutes before, but that's nothing compared to the30 - 45 minutes that I would normally stand in line in the Rancho Bernardo post office. I love Montana - difference #1.