What is the purpose of this conversation in Travels with Charley?

to show that most people in the United States hate New York
to show that most people in the United States visit New York
to show that most people do not treat the author differently because he is from New York
to show that being from New York disrupts the author’s relationships with the people he meets

It was said that my New York license plates would arouse interest and perhaps questions, since they were the only outward identifying marks I had. And so they did – perhaps twenty or thirty times in the whole trip. But such contacts followed an invariable pattern, somewhat as follows:

Local man: “New York, huh?”
Me: "Yep."
Local man: “I was there in nineteen thirty-eight – or was it thirty-nine? Alice, was it thirty-eight or thirty-nine we went to New York?"
Alice: "It was thirty-six. I remember because it was the year Alfred died.”
Local man: "Anyway, I hated it. Wouldn't live there if you paid me.”