Going out to California for me is always a blast.  But every time I go out there, I have to be ready to hear the sales pitch.  It starts with the, "Why don't you move out here?"... and then quickly progresses into how wonderful California is.  But it's more than that.  I got to hear about how California makes more cheese than Wisconsin, more oranges than Florida, more peaches than Georgia... in fact they make more of everything that other states put on their license plates.  Really, California should secede from the United States because it could be completely self sufficient.  I'm not being sarcastic either... I heard that suggested a couple times.

I wasn't quite prepared for that level of discussion when I went out there... and I definitely didn't want to get into a "my state can beat up your state" argument.  But if you don't say something, they just keep coming at you with more and more.  So finally, in a moment of sheer desperation I said, "You're such a California snob!"

Worked like a charm.  I've never seen so many people shut up so fast before in my life.  These aren't cloistered people either.  They all travel quite a lot, and see other parts of the country.  I don't know whether they were just trying so hard that they oversold it, or whether they really do think that, but you have no idea how hard it can be to hold your tongue when you're in a hostile environment, and trapped with nowhere to hide.

It's funny when you decide to debate politics as a welcome relief.