I returned from STT and (mostly) STJ two weeks ago and wrote a trip report in which I was somewhat critical of the lack of "friendliness" I observed while visiting. After 2 weeks back in the mid-size University town of Carbondale, Illinois...I think the problem was that MY expectations were unrealistic. In the past couple of weeks here, I noticed the clerk at convenience store was more interested in talking on her cell phone than she was in taking my money, and the cashier at Super Wal-Mart was dressed like he'd just finished changing the oil in his truck while laying on his back in the driveway. The server at El Greco's greek restaraunt simply grunted at me when I cheerily said "HI!", and the Lonestar Steakhouse brought our appetizers out to us after we were almost done with our meal! I think behavior like that is (unfortunately) what we've gotten used to in our everyday lives, but because we're "on vacation", we expect it to be different. I guess I was thinking.."I'm spending a bunch of money here, the least you can do is smile", and that was unrealistic. People are people. I visited Hawaii a couple of years ago. My wife was disappointed as she was expecting a tropical paradise but discovered that Honolulu was just like...St. Louis with palm trees and MORE convenience stores! I wasn't disappointed, I already knew that! So the next time I come to the VI's....I'll know what to expect, and what NOT to. Some time ago I was involved in an adult leadeship training program. One of my classmates asked the instructor for an agenda and the instructor politely declined with these words of advice, which is also beneficial for first-time visitors to the VI's. "Don't anticipate the program, let it happen"