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New Zealand—One of the Happiest Countries on Earth

I will spare you from having to read yet again about New Zealand’s incredible scenery, clean air and fascinating blend of Maori and British culture. What strikes me as much is how happy the people are. Pick your poll—Gallop, OECD, Yahoo.com, Wikipedia or Forbes—and the results are clear. The Kiwis are a happy lot!

There are a lot of highfalutin explanations, but the best I have found was in our road stop today in Bulls on the North Island.  The welcome sign says, “Bulls: A Town like…NO UDDER.” Every storefront is in the game, and every shopkeeper stands ready to engage visitors in the fun. The municipal parking lot says, “Park-a-Bull.” A restaurant sign says, “Eat-a-bull.” The book store sign says, “Trash and Treasur-a-bull.”

Oh, this town plays the theme to the max. The ATM sign says, “Bank-a-bull.” The public restrooms say, “Reliev-a-bull.” The Bulls Museum, which recounts the remarkable story of the town’s founder, James Bull, has the tag line, “Memor-a-bull.” Municipal waste cans say, “Response-a-bull.” The Medical Center sign says, “Cure-a-bull.” The Pharmacy sign says, “Indispense-a-bull.”  The Fashion Outlet sign says, “Fashion-a-bull.”

So, how many people do you think stop in this town like we did and spend money, rather than whisk by? I am not exaggerating when I say that everyone in town was into the fun, and the cash registers just echoed, “Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching!”

So, Richmond. We tout ourselves as a hotbed of creativity. Let’s come up with a historically relevant bovine on which to theme our attractions. Why can’t we just be such a fun place to visit that you can’t pass us by?

And, if this idea is the best there is, then let’s just make it easy and copy it. I mean, we could call Bull’s, New Zealand our “Brother City” down under. And absolutely everyone can get into the theme, even the lawyers and the financial planners. Imagine how happily you will pay your next bill, which accounts for “Bull-a-bull hours.”