In that meeting, there was discussion about someone being transferred to Tulsa from a larger city. They had been to Tulsa, and were happy about the transfer. After the meeting, a guy came up and offered his condolences to the person being transferred. The partner of the company heard this comment, and turned around and said, "You haven't been to Tulsa, have you?" The guy said no, but he'd heard about it.

Then the partner said, "So you know that he's going to be able to buy a much larger, nicer house than he ever dreamed he'd own...and he can have a house at the lake, and a boat as well."

The guy said, "Well it's nice that he will be able to do that. There just isn't much to do there and it's hot and dry and flat and they have tornadoes..."

The partner responded, "You really don't know much about the area...Tulsa is actually very green, with lots of old mature trees and it's only hot and dry there during the summer, but that describes Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and a lot of other cities as well. Did you know that Tulsa has several of the finest museums in the world? People travel from all over the world to see them. Tulsa also ranks #3 for surviving art deco architecture, behind New York City and Miami. Oklahoma has more man made lakes than any other state, and it has more shoreline than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined, over one million surface acres of water..."

He continued, "From Tulsa, you can drive an hour or so and choose between several beautiful lakes. Your friend here will be able to buy a nice house on any of them, and have a boat as well, if he's so inclined...Tulsa is centrally located, so flying in or out is pretty good, since you're halfway there already if you're going to one of the coasts..."

Then he mentioned that tornadoes at least give you some warning, unlike earthquakes and landslides. He pointed out that there isn't anyplace in the world that doesn't have some sort of natural destructive force.

All in all, he really put the guy in his place. The guy who transferred still lives here, he bought the big house, the lake house, the boat, and his family is very happy here. The guy that offered his condolences still lives in a small, very expensive apartment in a congested, noisy, dirty part of the city where he lives.

You tell me who got the best deal!

My friends and family are all liberal Democrats ( well there is one in-law by marriage who is a Libertarian , but I just see him once a year)so I don't have any problems in social settings.