This is about conservative Protestants.
I live in east Texas. Everybody is a conservative Protestant. Even the Methodists are conservative. In the city, they tend to be more liberal. Here they have never seen a Presbyterian or a Congregationalist or god forbid, a Unitarian. Horrors, you mean Unitarians are NOT CHEEE-RISTIANNNSSSS!!!!! (((Shudder)))
I was in a store and the owner, after I was thru with my transactions, said "Oh we should go eat at the Chinese buffet sometime". It was closing time. He was hinting that he wanted my husbo and I to invite him and his wife out. Which is fine. I don't have a problem with that.
The next time I was in the store the wife was waiting on us. We asked her about her kids and she said one of them was studying in Israel. My antennae went up and I thought "Uh oh. Fundy." I know fundies prop up Israel for the apocalypse even though they know the Jews are going to hell.
Then she said the kid was studying "Godly leadership" and I thought, I DO NOT want to make friends with these people. I know exactly what they will do. They will invite us to our church and ask us if we know Jesus.
Been there, done that, got the severe depression from preachers ranting about how filthy and sinful we are and ran off screaming over a decade ago. And stopped taking Christian preachers seriously AT ALL.
And they will have not the slightest interest in my religious/spiritual views, or my husband's.
Hint: I met hubby at a large metropolitan Unitarian church.
People here are depressingly conservative and predictable. They worry about what god wants and what jesus thinks bla de bla de blah.
They inject god and jesus into conversations with nothing to do with religion or Christianity.
We quit going to the book club b/c I was told I would be disruptive. We have both had the urge to get up and LEAVE when they start talking about Christianity. But that's another discussion.
I've already been told I'm going to hell and Buddhism is like Voodoo. These people are ignorant and proud of it.
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This is Texas.
Texas is big.
we're 150 miles from Dallas or Houston so that's an overnite trip.
I already know cool people in Houston.
We have no choices here in religion or shopping(Dollar General and wallyworld), or entertainment or attitudes.
I inherited this house (family home) on 2 acres & we're retired.
I grew up in Houston and until we moved here 4 years ago, I had lived in Houston and San Antonio. I am definitely a city person, so I know exactly what you are talking about. I know the freeways in Houston and San Antonio. There really isn't any answer.
The people here really suffer from the general stupidity. For example, I can't find a competent CPA. I can't find a competent handyman or lawnmower mechanic or car mechanic. I was tempted to take a class at the community college branch in Small Engine Repair. I'm already taking welding and Spanish. That's three nights a week there.
I hired THREE different plumbers who dug a trench and looked busy, but did NOT do what I told them to do. One of them wanted to rip out my ten foot tall,
40-year old camellia bush that my grandmother planted. You mess with my plants and that's the quickest way to get on my shit list.
I told them I needed a dedicated line for my washing machine to drain into because it would spin and blow out of a toilet on the other side of the house. They would absolutely NOT listen to me and couldn't understand why I got mad at them. I should have reported them to the state board. The fourth guy I hired finally crawled under the house and installed a dedicated line for the washing machine.
The local senior citizens center, which my dad founded as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, has an ancient CPA on the board. A woman told me they have not filed a tax return since 1996. My dad died in 2000. I knew the place would go to hell after he died, because nobody in town was smart enough to run it properly. They got mad at him and cussed him out and told him he was stupid, because he ran it properly (no political rallies) and explained why. He was a retired attorney.
Last year I took my taxes to a CPA in a slightly larger town and wrote instructions for it on the front of the folder holding my records. Like "My husband's name Is Mr. John Smith. My name is Ms. Maidenname".
So they prepared the tax return with MY last name, which is my maiden name, as HIS last name. He was Mr. John MaidenName.
I couldn't sign that.
The basic incompetence of people here just amazes me. I have learned to expect it. If I tell somebody to show up and pull weeds on Monday, they say "Sure". They don't know what day it is. They don't show up at all or show up on Wednesday. This is after giving me a sob story about how poor they are and on food stamps, etc., etc.........
And I'll pay them above minimum wage and give them water if they're working in the heat.
There's a guy who cuts trees and never shows up when he says he will. I think he's an alcoholic.
We have tried to be self-sufficient as possible. For example, we have a generator. We bought that after going thru Hurricane Ike in 2008.
The other part of this is that I CANNOT get my friends to visit me from Houston or Dallas. I thought that in Texas 150 miles would not be a long drive but it is. Everybody is busy working.
One guy came up here and turned around and went back on a Saturday night, which was rude. I think his girlfriend got mad and made him go back to Houston. It didn't make any sense and he denied that anything was wrong. Maybe he thought it was my responsibility to entertain him when I had two other guests as well.
I don't drink. I don't want to be around people who get sloppy drunk. I don't smoke either, it makes me quite ill. Nor wacky tobacky (Boy do I sound like a blast!!).
I know one gay man in Crockett who runs a B&B.
I've been to Tyler and Lufkin, and have not been real impressed by them or the people there. Had some conflicts with people in both towns. They have Target stores but that's about it.
We're talking about 70-80 miles one way. Not worth it. Longview is further than that. Shreveport is really far away. I have some boring Church of Christ cousins on my mother's side that own the town of Vivian. Yawn. Kinda like a fiefdom, but that's Louisiana for ya.
I was in Houston a few weekends ago and had to do some serious shopping. Hit the bargain bin of Neiman-Marcus called Last Call, and an Asian art/antiques/misc. store that is going out of business.
Walked around The Galleria on Sunday afternoon; it was jammed. The food court was jammed but the luxury retailers were deserted and the salespeople were bored. Neiman-Marcus itself was pretty busy
but I didn't buy anything there. Their shoe selection was just terrible.
I have really narrow feet and they don't carry anything in my size anymore.
I go in Neiman-Marcus and it is the complete opposite of wallyworld in retail: Quality merchandise, helpful, happy salespeople, an atmosphere of beautiful things and appreciation for beauty and quality. Just walking through there reminds me of everything Wallyworld is NOT. The vibe is so much nicer than wallyworld, it made me happy just walking through it to the mall.
www.lastcall.com
www.windwatergallery.com
Didn't have time to get to Costco for my chocolate covered almonds!! 
That was my digression on the retail philosophy and atmosphere of diametrically opposed stores. One who has taken over rural and poor America in the race to the bottom, and one who is the last survivor of Texas department stores that were once family-owned.
Waiting for attacks from totally organic free-range grown sprout eaters who think it's a cardinal sin to set foot in either one of those stores.
I know what it's like to be isolated in some shithole in the middle of nowhere. You have a husband and a computer, though, so at least you're not totally alone. Best of luck to you!
And I'm taking welding and Spanish. I'm mastering silver soldering finally!!
