When the Los Angeles Lakers won a national basketball title a couple of weeks ago, fans responded by rioting, looting and destroying cars.
When Family Circle magazine's latest issue ranked Evans as one of the top 10 towns in America for families, residents quietly responded by continuing to enjoy their community.
OK, so the two have little in common. But it does say something about how we've come to take such accolades in stride that we haven't been cheering in the streets, or at least getting sore arms from serial back-patting.
Let's face it: The biggest benefit of the Family Circle ranking is that it tells the rest of the country what a great community we have.
But we already know it.
Family Circle tells the rest of the country that we have great schools. We know that. It says Evans - which we loosely consider to include all of Columbia County - has "small-town warmth, low crime rate, community churches and state-of-the-art gyms." We know all that.
Some might be inclined to want to shush that good news. For a national magazine to say such great things about our community is akin to setting out a neon welcome mat, beckoning more people to join us. Aren't we growing enough already?
Columbia County is a wonderful place to live, work, worship, play and raise a family. It's also plenty big enough for newcomers who share the excitement. They can only enrich what our community has to offer.
But we already knew that, too.
Congratulations to us. Let the back-patting begin.
icon.