The rudest cities

Two Sundays back CBS Sunday Morning gave the list of the top ten rudest cities in America according to Travel+Leisure magazine: NYC, Miami, DC, LA, Boston, DFW, Atlanta, Phoenix, Baltimore, and Orlando.

Well, was I surprised! Dallas? Rude? I could easily believe it of all the other cities, but Dallas?

Granted, there've been a few times I've looked askance at my fellow citizens, usually on the roadway. But to place so high on the list? To place at all?

So I tried to look objectively at the list. Seven of the ten are on the east coast, one on the west. Dallas and Phoenix sort of in the middle.

I think I came up with the answer, not to Dallas' perceived rudeness but for 8 of the others: sleep deprivation. On the coasts, in the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones, you can't go to bed until after the news and it doesn't start until 11! Then if you have to get your Leno or Conan fix, it's even later! Then up early for work or school, and the population is sleep-deprived.

In the midsection of America, our news is on at 10. We get an hour's extra sleep whether we need it or not.

A girlfriend has suggested that it's the crowding in the cities (and tourism?) which causes the rudeness factor. I'll stick to sleep.