Two days ago, in the Walmart parking lot, I witnessed a 20-something meth-head with his wife and young kids screaming at the top of his lungs at some young woman in her car, dispute over right-of-way I guess. Pathetic scene. Then yesterday, I bought at auction the collected papers of a woman who'd been born and raised here, attended high school in the 1950s. Diaries, report cards, notes, letters, copies of the weekly paper published by the students, homecoming stuff, etc. Got a flavor of what life was like here in the 1950s.
The contrast between then and now is SO stark.