True. And the urban areas that you describe are just part of the story. These "Americans are weird" stories are nothing new. This site and others are littered with them and they are all written with thinly veiled comtemptl and sometimes downright hostile. America is a big country with a lot of viewpoints and it isn't perfect. Americans themselves are harder on what's wrong with our country than anyone And a Medium piece with 500 claps won't be the catalyst for change, but it will be good for the ego.