A View From the Top

I'm still here in Denver (the Mile High City) today, and I must say the world here looks much different from where I usually find myself. On the whole Colorado is one of the more liberal leaning states in the "middle" part of the U.S., and Denver is a fairly liberal community. Walking around the downtown area, a couple of things struck me.

First, Colorado is supposed to be one of the "healthiest" states in America. More people bike, hike, walk and stay in shape than in any other state. At the same time, the number of smokers here is higher than average. I'm not sure what to make of that.

In the downtown area of Denver, there are far more panhandlers than what I see in the places I usually frequent. Many of these are clearly "professional" panhandlers. It amazes me how they have the right look and the right words to say, the right responses and the right attitude to collect as much money as possible. These people never get upset if you don't give them anything because they know that would turn off the next person coming down the sidewalk who might give them something. Some of them play instruments for money. Usually, very poorly. I saw one guy who carries around a guitar with a lot of duct tape on it. It didn't particularly look like it had been abused. I suspect the guitar had the duct tape added for the look it added when trying to beg for money. You can't beg for money very easily of you have a nice thousand dollar guitar, can you?

I also saw a number of Greenpeace volunteers trying to get people to sign environmental petitions. Mostly, they were preaching to the converted. The people engaging them were people sympathetic to their views. Others just walked by without making eye contact. I was tempted to start up a "discussion" but my writing skills are much better than my "live debating" skills.

I suppose this is pretty much like any other major city in the U.S. You meet all sorts. Still, it's an environment that I'm not used to. Frankly, I like my own environment better.