Welcome to the Belt

You know you are in the Bible Belt when you find two Jack T. Chick evangelical comic tracts on your windshield in two days. Actually I realized we were headed into the Belt when we were approached by a man at the Denver Airport wanting to know if we were "saved". We were sitting in the waiting area for the flight to Peavine when he sat down next to us and popped the question. Turns out he was a preacher. I was seated the furthest from him so selfishly I abandoned my family and moved away. Fortunately S kept him busy until our flight was called for boarding.

Once on the ground in Peavine the Beltiness was again noticeable from several religious-oriented billboards and signs along the freeway. Within two days I had seen a man walking down the road carrying a large cross over his shoulder and been accosted at a stoplight by a large woman carrying a plastic bucket marked donations and shouting "God Bless You" at motorists. If one didn't give her a donation she shouted all the louder and it sounded more like a curse than a blessing.

This is perhaps the first sign of reverse culture shock that I'm experiencing.