re: Have you ever felt unwelcome in a small town?

I dated a girl from a small town. She didn’t like to go back except to visit her parents. She said whatever your social standing was in high school remained with you the rest of your life. Didn’t matter if the most popular guy in high school turned out to be a loser, he was still treated the same way and acted like he was still the shite.

I used to work some in the Black Belt of Alabama, a strip of counties that runs horizontally through south central Alabama. It’s known for its dense black population, poverty and Democrat politics.

I’m a white dude so I got a few looks and standoffish attitudes. Never felt in danger but you could sense an out of town whitey wasn’t exactly welcome, at least until I built trust with them. I get along with most folks and I’m not racist so it was fine.

Wolf Point, Montana

local Indians weren't all that thrilled when we showed up at a bar to have beers that was apparently mostly Sioux

I don't read too much into it. Sometimes folks are just having a bad day. Some folks are just miserable to begin with.

As long as they don't spit in my food I'm good. I woudn't even tip less if that happened.

I guess being from a big city you get desensitized to it so you don't expect everyone to be warm and fuzzy all the time.

Just some food for thought. Now you do the dishes.

Years ago I pulled through some rural old railway towns in the Sandhills of South Carolina for work for about a week. On several occasions I had folks following me until I got out of their town that evening.

Back in 73, I was traveling with five friends through rural Texas.

Me, Sally Hardesty, Jerry, Pam, Kirk, and Sally's paraplegic brother Franklin. We stop at the cemetery to check on the grave of Sally and Franklin's grandfather, which appears undisturbed. As we drive past a slaughterhouse, Franklin recounts the Hardesty family's history with animal slaughter. We soon pick up a hitchhiker, who talks about his family who worked at the old slaughterhouse. He borrows Franklin's pocket knife and cuts himself, then takes a single Polaroid picture of the group, for which he demands money. When we refuse to pay, he burns the photo and attacks Franklin with a straight razor. We force him out of the van, where he smears blood on the side as we drive off. Low on gas, we stop at a station whose proprietor says that no fuel is available. We explore a nearby abandoned house, owned by the Hardesty family.

Kirk and Pam leave the others behind, planning to visit a nearby swimming hole mentioned by Franklin. On their way there, they discover another house, surrounded by run-down cars, and run by gas-powered generators. Hoping to barter for gas, Kirk enters the house through the unlocked door, while Pam waits outside. As he searches the house, a large man wearing a mask made of skin appears and murders Kirk with a hammer. When Pam enters the house, she stumbles into a room strewn with decaying remains and furniture made from human and animal bones. She attempts to flee but is caught by the man and impaled on a meat hook. The man then starts up a chainsaw, dismembering Kirk as Pam watches. In the evening, Jerry searches for Pam and Kirk. When he enters the other house, he finds Pam's nearly-dead, spasming body in a chest freezer and is killed by the masked man.

With darkness falling, Sally and Franklin set out to find the others. En route, the masked man ambushes them, killing Franklin with the chainsaw. The man chases Sally into the house, where she finds a very old, seemingly dead man and a woman's rotting corpse. She escapes from the man by jumping through a second-floor window, and she flees to the gas station. With the man in pursuit, Sally arrives at the gas station when he seems to disappear. The station's proprietor comforts Sally with the offer of help, after which he beats and subdues her, loading her into his pickup truck. The proprietor drives to the other house, and the hitchhiker appears. The proprietor scolds him for his actions at the cemetery, identifying the hitchhiker as the grave robber. As they enter the house, the masked man reappears, dressed in women's clothing. The proprietor identifies the masked man and the hitchhiker as brothers, and the hitchhiker refers to the masked man as "Leatherface". The two brothers bring the old man—"Grandpa"—down the stairs and cut Sally's finger so that Grandpa can suck her blood, Sally then faints from the ordeal.

The next morning, Sally regains consciousness. The men taunt her and bicker with each other, resolving to kill her with a hammer. They try to include Grandpa in the activity, but Grandpa is too weak. Sally breaks free and runs onto a road in front of the house, pursued by the brothers. An oncoming truck accidentally runs over the hitchhiker, killing him. The truck driver attacks Leatherface with a large wrench, causing him to fall and injure his leg with the chainsaw. The truck driver flees while Sally, covered in blood, flags down a passing pickup truck and climbs into the bed, narrowly escaping Leatherface. As the pickup drives away, Sally laughs hysterically while an enraged Leatherface swings his chainsaw in the road as the sun rises.]

I never felt so unwelcome in my life.

Stuttgart, AR

Can confirm small towns in Idaho don't like outsiders

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Have you ever felt unwelcome in a small town?

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Only once. I was riding east of Omaha when I walked into a restaurant, all strung out from the cold, and I felt all the eyes on me as I was shaking off the cold. Most of the time, I don't hear them talk, but other times I can. It's the same old cliche, is it woman or is it man.

Yes. I had locals follow me to the county line and stop with their old Chevy truck blocking both lanes of the road to watch me continue on. Fargo/Clinch Co. Georgia.