In early 2023, I penned the original version of this article.

My wife and I reviewed why we left the US the year before. I have even written about some of those reasons since then.

But our conversation recently zeroed in on one reason that seems to exist today if you live there.

Drama!

Now right off the bat, some may say, “Oh, you’re just ranting or venting about the same old shit that others are talking about. Maybe, but is anything changing? In the past ten years in Bend, Oregon, the signs of worsening were apparent.

• Violence in the US. Yeah, worn down, age-old, blah! blah! blah! I get it. But you don’t have to live with it, let alone around it.

• Anger. Too common. We had neighbors in the last house we owned that seemed to be constantly pissed off about things. Dogs walking by, cars parked across the street, loud noises, too many people on the neighborhood trails, dogs crapping on the easement, and even squirrels barking from the trees. Come on, folks. Get a life!

• Parking lots. Impatience — no, I want that spot near the front door, don’t open your door into my car door; hurry up and load your car so I can have that no-walk spot.

• Shopping. Hey, I was in line first, no, I’m next, why do you have a mask on, get your shopping cart out of my way, how come there are only two checkers for ten check stands, where are my cookies — are they out again?

• Consumerism. A giant piece of mind fuck, mind suck, spend the last dime you have and then borrow more, garages full of shit you bought last year — quick, sell it at your next yard sale, Alexa — what can we buy today, worst invention ever to show up. Oh shit, Christmas, how much do we have left on our credit cards? America at its worst!

• Us versus them behavior. All manner of division. The Whites against the Blacks. Straight against Gay. Color this, color that. The homed against the homeless. My Tesla versus your smoke-spewing diesel truck. Yard signs making a political statement. Bumper stickers with hate, or worse. Why is everything a political statement?

• Road rage. You are in the fast lane going too slow, you are in the slow lane going too slow, get out of my way — I’m bigger, get your motorhome off the road, get off your phone while driving, my truck is bigger, road-killed animals — carnage, littering.

• Safety. Lock your doors. Get your gun. Close the gate. Keep your windows closed. Pull your curtains. Caller i.d. — don’t answer that; it could be a scam.

• Politics, OMG! Cluster fuck, giant sandbox, schoolyard free for all, work — is that why we’re here, my narrative is better than yours; I’m inclusive, you're not. Not in my backyard, you leftist, rightist pig!

• Lastly, firstly, and definitely our hot button — Health Care, or lack thereof. The US has demonstrated for many years now that taking care of the health of its citizens at an affordable cost is a pipe dream.

I thought recently of doing an article on personal bankruptcy (yeah, us too), which is a rampant by-product of US non-healthcare, but I thought everyone has already heard about it; too many have had their financial failings, or what good will it do? It’s not a big enough priority for the government to fix it. Those making the big bucks off the sick would not allow it anyway. The whole damn industry is only in it for the money.

We have private health insurance in Spain. It’s affordable; we get to see a doctor and not pay a co-pay or deal with a deductible. You need to be seen; it’s a done, no-hassle experience. How refreshing and basic for humanity.

By the way, for those curious, “How is Spain working out for us?” I’ll answer it this way. It’s not Utopia; we couldn’t find that on the map. Yeah, we have our work cut out for us learning the language, but the new place we live sure beats the hell out of the old place we left. And we don’t see any signs of drama.

And, having neighbors like

See you, USA! Thanks for 60-plus years. You wore out your welcome, and me too. It was time to move on.

I’ll close with this. I want the US to succeed. My kids still live there, and S.S. allows us to live here. It’s a great place to live if some things get cleaned up. Get busy, elected leaders, 300-plus million citizens are counting on you, including two in Spain.

Muchas gracias por leer! 🙏