expectations

it's a little funny that my last blog entry was about how i hadn't posted anything for a while and then i proceeded by not posting anything for weeks. maybe it isn't funny and i'm just making excuses.

someday i'll get back to the story about how this whole thing happened, but that day won't be today.

a woman just came into the store and, after looking around for a while, proclaimed something like, "wow! i wouldn't have expected something like this in three rivers . . . "

how do i respond to such a statement? i guess it's nice that we could surprise them, but it's also a bit of a rip on the town we've chosen as our home. of course, it could simply be a sign that things are heading in the right direction. and then it gives me a little bit of a sinking feeling, like, "what did we get ourselves into?"

i suppose this scenario is an interesting experiment in expectation. one's expectations of others or of a community will determine their reaction to others or a community. so, if one expects a lot out of others, one will be disappointed frequently. and if one expects little out of others, one will often be surprised.