The National Grump Progression (NGP)

While having coffee with an east-coaster friend who recently moved to Oregon, we developed this theory. 1) On the Pacific side of the country, people prefer to be cheerful and friendly. They may be afflicted underneath, but they smile and point out the positive. 2) On the Atlantic side, people love to miserable, cynical and sarcastic. They may be happy underneath, but they yell and flip you off anyway. 3) In the states that fall in the middle, the acrimony raises by degrees going from the former coast to the latter. From my native Colorado, I tend to be a merry person with a hint of melancholic displeasure.