I also go places on vacation, where I am a tourist. It's nice to see other places and meet the people who live there and spend my time and money there.

And I'm glad i live (Vermont, in case that's not clear) in a place that others consider a nice enough place to visit that they become tourists here. I appreciate them coming here and I know they contribute to the economy and the culture.

I think in the real world, Vermonters, like most everyone, treat tourists with appreciation and respect. That's been my experience. However, there's a real hostility towards them on this message board. I chalk it up to the internet tending to bring out the inner dick in people. Everything they may do that's impolite or inappropriate gets amplified and-all the good things they do is downplayed-to-ignored.

Cars do that also. It's easy to go with your worst impulses when you, and the subject of your ire, are separated by thousands of pounds of steel and glass, traveling at some unnatural velocity and you'll most likely never see them again, especially in a context where you'll experience a consequence for your bad social behavior. Similar thing happens on the internet.