I wish to suggest two new groupings of residents, vaguely similar, but with enough vagaries to be discernably separatable. The first clan I will call the seasonal crowd, they arrive in late spring and remain till fall, have an island residence that they keep ever ready in case of sudden emergencies, and are the main regular employers of the many island cleaning services. Financially they are reasonably well fixed, their second home, the one on the island, is comfortable, not luxurious, for that would be ostentatious, and they are nothing if not good folk with a welcome sense of proportion and good taste. The are self-employed, or retired, with an expansive amount of spare time and are fulfilled by their migratory lifestyle.
The second variance are less consistent visitors, I will call them the suitcase people. The are the owners or leasers of a condo, or perhaps a holiday cottage in one of the small coastal inlet villages, very hopeful of one day becoming pucka permanent residents, but extremely glad to momentarily be but occasional, as employment or travel permits.
My observations on each are fairly concrete, provable, logical. Their similarities can be numbered with some clarity, the differences are less obvious, mainly relating to partially hidden factors, like income, occupation, adaptability, staidness. Fashion choices are an excellent divider, the suitcase folk favoring clothing easily packed and transported, holiday wear effectively, the seasonal crowd having a second wardrobe in their second home and can be seen sporting the finest of leisure wear, the ladies with woolen twinsets, men atypical golfing garb.
I do hope my observations bring with them the tang of snobbery, which of course they should. We live within a tiny space rife with all kinds of prejudices, from the very mildest to the most heinous. Discrimination and intolerance are a fact of life, resolutely permeating all levels of all our beings constantly the emotion of intolerance is as ingrained into our system as is the directive to breath. The secret is to accept and control the levels and effectiveness of every bias, understand all base considerations simply what they be, open expressions of jealousy, envy, and good old-fashioned hypocrisy.
Daily Abstract Thoughts 