Not Surprised

While at the dentist this morning I had the obligatory conversation during the procedure {mine was complicated by novocaine - it's hard to talk when the whole left side of your face is numb}. He wanted to know about my summer & then my thesis. The following is a run down of our conversation:

me: "I'm doing my thesis on sustainable tourism in New Bedford"

dentist: "New Bedford. What's there, I don't really know anything about it."

me: "..whaling, industry, mills, urban blight, immigrants, blah, blah, blah...tourism...potential..." {the usual run down I give}. "They have had that National Park since 1996..."

dentist: "I have lived here my whole life {i.e 45 minutes away} & not only have I never been, but I wouldn't know the first thing to do or really anything about it...."

This conversation has happened so many times this summer I can't even tell you! It's the reason I'm doing my thesis in a nutshell! We are so close to New Bedford & yet it remains a total mystery.