why its good to live in your hometown (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Casual Banter] >> Off the Grid



Message

SeeksOnlyOne -> why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 3:25:13 PM)

i live about 5 miles from the house i was raised in.  im a cafeteria manager at an elementary school in that town, and seeing all the changes going on, some days i think this just aint like home any more.  they are tearing down all my woods i played in as a child and putting up mansions and you need to speak spanish in many places, such as my job, or it adds a barrier to communication.

some days i think im moving out of here, its not the same, blah blah blah...then something happens like what happened last week.

at a corner gas/convienance store, a man with a grey head of hair and beard was working the checkout.  i looked at him, wondering where i knew him from.  then it hit me, he was a cashier at a store not far from my home when i was a kid.  he was the only cashier that wouldnt fuss when we got 32 cents worth of stuff at a time, to avoid paying that penny tax.....i think it was 3 cents on the dollar back then......

so i ask him if he used to work at the sing station and have a bright red fro and beard-and he grins and says yeah.....and i tell him how i remember him being so nice to us when we were kids....we chatted a bit and both of us were smiling when i left.

ive worked in the school system here for 14 years.  kids i knew in elementary school are now grown, with kids of their own.  one of my "babies" served me a beer at a bar not far from here.  we wont go thru how that made me feel[:@]

but ive had those kids come up to me and hug me and say thank you, for the hug, the cookie, the smile, the laughter.  and some just hug you, maybe not saying a word,  and dont worry their macho friends are watching and they take the razzing.

i love the comfort and connections i have here.  i dont know if the change will ever be enough to make it "not home" for me........but i kind of hope i can adapt to the changes cause the sense of home is damn good.

anyone feel the same?



Level -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 3:54:48 PM)

Nice post, SOO. Things change, but here, like in many towns, the good remains.



LuckyAlbatross -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 4:32:05 PM)

Sorry, my hometown was a drug filled gang run ghetto growing up and it's only gotten worse over the years.  Sadly, my mother feels responsible for my agoraphobic aunt and they won't move pretty much until my aunt dies.



TallDominantMast -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 4:36:10 PM)

I had a similar experience to Lucky.  A year after I left my hometown, my old house became a crack den.  The house of the little girl I used to play with...her family also left, and that house became a brother.  If I'd stayed, 'Drugs and Jesus', by Tim McGraw, would have been my life.  Except without the Jesus part.  [sm=hewah.gif]



all4yourplsr -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 4:37:44 PM)

I definitely feel the same way.  While I think about moving away for one reason or another, it hasn't happened yet and at this rate may never happen.  My sisters, who have all moved away, ask me sometimes why I stay.  It's probably mostly because I'm relatively well known in the community for who my family it but it's also for things that I have done on my own. 

I live one day at a time so you never know but right now, I'm staying right here. 



Level -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 4:42:00 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: LuckyAlbatross

Sorry, my hometown was a drug filled gang run ghetto growing up and it's only gotten worse over the years.  Sadly, my mother feels responsible for my agoraphobic aunt and they won't move pretty much until my aunt dies.


You, young lady, are thereby given a special "get the hell outta Dodge" pass. As you've already done, I know. You do bring up a good point, "home" isn't always hospitable.



SeeksOnlyOne -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 4:42:56 PM)

wow.....i cant imagine not wanting to be here.......do either of you that "hate" where you were raised feel cheated? or just glad to have made things better for your self?



mnottertail -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 4:53:19 PM)

Ruins (Cat Stevens)  

It's so quiet in the ruins walking though the old town
Stones crumbling under my feet I see smoke for miles around
Oh it's enough to make you weep, all that remains of the main street
Up in the park on Sunday, dogs chasing and the children played
Old man with his head down, can't see nothing more around...no

But he remembers how it used to be, back in the old days,
So nice to see you coming back in this town again
It's nice to see a friendly face come peeping through having tea
In the afternoon, so nice to see you coming back in this town again...

Ah but it's all changed winter turned on a man
Came down on day when no-one was looking and it
Stole away the land, people running scared, losing hands
Dodging shadows of falling sand, buildings standing like empty shells
And nobody...helping no-one else
Young child with his hands high, ain't able to see no reason why...no

But he remembers how it used to be, back in the old days,
So nice to see you coming back in this town again
It's nice to see a friendly face come peeping through
You'd better know what you're going through now
You came back here to find your home is a black horizon
That you don't recognize, evil destruction has taken everything
You'd better walk on the side while you're still walking
Just keep on walking on down the street keep your distance
From the people you meet. Oh Lord and you'd better watch your eyes
'Cause if smoke gets in them, baby you won't rise again.
Where's it leading to freedom at what cost
People needing more and more and it's all getting lost
I want back, I want back
Back to the time when the earth was green
And there was no high walls and the sea was clean
Don't stop that sun to shine, it's not yours or mine...no.



Ron
 



SeeksOnlyOne -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 4:56:40 PM)

dang, if i wasnt stoned, i bet id be crying....thanks so much for sharing that-and i thought i knew cat stevens works.....



mnottertail -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 4:59:27 PM)

its on catch a bull at four



domiguy -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 5:12:26 PM)

Seeks, that was a really nice post......Remind me not to invite LA or TallDominantMaster to subsusie's baby shower ....They would probably give her pictures of still born infants.....Those two are such bummers.



LotusSong -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 5:14:31 PM)

The prettiest thing I ever saw was my hometown getting smaller and smaller inmy review mirror 24 years ago.  I left and never looked back.



LotusSong -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 5:21:29 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TallDominantMast

I had a similar experience to Lucky.  A year after I left my hometown, my old house became a crack den.  The house of the little girl I used to play with...her family also left, and that house became a brother.  If I'd stayed, 'Drugs and Jesus', by Tim McGraw, would have been my life.  Except without the Jesus part.  [sm=hewah.gif]


Mine was (and still is) just like that.  For those not familiar with the tune's lyrics, here they are:

Lyrics for Song: Drugs Or Jesus

In my home town
For anyone who sticks around
You're either lost or you're found
There's not much in between

In my home town
Everything's still black and white
It's a long, long way from wrong to right
From Sunday morning to Saturday night

Everybody just wants to get high
Sit and watch a perfect world go by
We're all looking for love and meaning in our lives
We follow the roads that lead us
To drugs or Jesus

My whole life
I've tried to run, I've tried to hide
From the stained glass windows in my mind
Refusing to let God's light shine
Down on me
Down on me

Everybody just wants to get high
Sit and watch a perfect world go by
We're all looking for love and meaning in our lives
There's not much space between us
Drugs or Jesus

Everybody wants acceptance
We all just want some proof
Everyone's just looking for the truth

Everybody just wants to get high
Sit and watch a perfect world go by
We're all looking for love and meaning in our lives
We follow the roads that lead us
To drugs or Jesus




LuckyAlbatross -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 5:36:11 PM)

quote:

wow.....i cant imagine not wanting to be here.......do either of you that "hate" where you were raised feel cheated? or just glad to have made things better for your self?

It was what it was.  I carved a place for myself.  I wasn't afraid to walk alone at nights because it was my home turf- I gained respect from the gang idiots because I also helped them study for exams. 

Occasionally I'll feel alienated and a bit cheated- the kids who grew up in suburbs and go to bitch about not getting a car for their birthdays, or who actually HAD more than one formal dance a year, or an actual drama club.  Heck, who didn't even have to wear picture IDs everyday with cameras and police patrols.  There's a bit of a skew there.

But I did what I could, my family was strong and did what they could for me and knew my and my sister needed to move beyond where we were, and I'm fairly firmly rooted in middle class life these days living in an apartment complex with 9 pools, a gym, hot tub, sauna, tanning beds, putting green, racquetball and tennis courts and such.  And I have the experience that helps me understand exactly the meaning of poor and not forgetting one's roots.

But you'll never have me staying in that area for 24 hours at a time again unless there's some major overhaul or emergency.



DiurnalVampire -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 5:44:33 PM)

I'm in the same boat as LA. I grew up in the ghetto of NY, and got out as soon as I could manage. I was lucky not to have been killed while I lived there, between the drug violence and the gangs. So, home is not always where the heart is. Thankfully aside from a few friends I dont have family there anymore so I only go back to visit those friends once in a blue moon... and they dont live in the area I was in anymore either.

DV



Sinergy -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 5:45:58 PM)

 
My parents purchased a town in a sleepy little beach community in southern california, paying 22k in 1965.  I knew all my neighbors, I had lots of friends, etc.  There were lots of children.

Aerospace moved in.  Life moved on.  That plot of land could be subdivided and sold for 3 to 4 million or more easy.  They still live there.

There are no children.  Businesses cannot survive.  Now it is becoming a retirement community of people who do not know each other, and have to work two jobs and not have children to afford to live there.

I was last there 10 years ago, I moved 30 miles south to a sleepy little beach community.  Aerospace will not come here, but the harbor gives good jobs to people.

Sinergy

And on that note....

Telegraph Road, by Dire Straits.

A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a pack on his back
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best
Made a home in the wilderness
He built a cabin and a winter store
And he ploughed up the ground by the cold lake shore
And the other travellers came riding down the track
And they never went further, no, they never went back
Then came the churches then came the schools
Then came the lawyers then came the rules
Then came the trains and the trucks with their loads
And the dirty old track was the telegraph road

Then came the mines - then came the ore
Then there was the hard times then there was a war
Telegraph sang a song about the world outside
Telegraph road got so deep and so wide
Like a rolling river. . .

And my radio says tonight its gonna freeze
People driving home from the factories
Theres six lanes of traffic
Three lanes moving slow. . .

I used to like to go to work but they shut it down
I got a right to go to work but theres no work here to be found
Yes and they say were gonna have to pay whats owed
Were gonna have to reap from some seed thats been sowed
And the birds up on the wires and the telegraph poles
They can always fly away from this rain and this cold
You can hear them singing out their telegraph code
All the way down the telegraph road

You know Id sooner forget but I remember those nights
When life was just a bet on a race between the lights
You had your head on my shoulder you had your hand in my hair
Now you act a little colder like you dont seem to care
But believe in me baby and Ill take you away
From out of this darkness and into the day
From these rivers of headlights these rivers of rain
From the anger that lives on the streets with these names
cos Ive run every red light on memory lane
Ive seen desperation explode into flames
And I dont want to see it again. . .

>from all of these signs saying sorry but were closed
All the way down the telegraph road




SeeksOnlyOne -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 5:46:30 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: LuckyAlbatross

quote:

wow.....i cant imagine not wanting to be here.......do either of you that "hate" where you were raised feel cheated? or just glad to have made things better for your self?

It was what it was.  I carved a place for myself.  I wasn't afraid to walk alone at nights because it was my home turf- I gained respect from the gang idiots because I also helped them study for exams. 

Occasionally I'll feel alienated and a bit cheated- the kids who grew up in suburbs and go to bitch about not getting a car for their birthdays, or who actually HAD more than one formal dance a year, or an actual drama club.  Heck, who didn't even have to wear picture IDs everyday with cameras and police patrols.  There's a bit of a skew there.

But I did what I could, my family was strong and did what they could for me and knew my and my sister needed to move beyond where we were, and I'm fairly firmly rooted in middle class life these days living in an apartment complex with 9 pools, a gym, hot tub, sauna, tanning beds, putting green, racquetball and tennis courts and such.  And I have the experience that helps me understand exactly the meaning of poor and not forgetting one's roots.

But you'll never have me staying in that area for 24 hours at a time again unless there's some major overhaul or emergency.


i got a car for my 16th bday-an old doodle bug i paid dad 300 bucks for-he handed me the keys the day i got my license and said "go see if them things work...if you kill your self, it wont be from speeding" and i wouldnt have gone to a formal dance or been seen dead around the drama club.....

but it was nice to have a fort in the woods to play in and then later smoke pot and party in.....thing is, i didnt appreciate it back then-wanted to escape.....and did for many years.....and now.....clicking my heels together....theres no place like home.....

the one thing i think pertains to all of us-where we come from helped make us who we are....and in almost all cases, thats a great thing!



Sinergy -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 5:48:39 PM)

On a similar note.

The Last Resort by The Eagles





She came from Providence, the one in Rhode Island
where the old world shadows hang heavy in the air.
She packed her hopes and dreams like a refugee,
just as her father came across the sea.

She heard about a place people were smilin',
they spoke about the red man's way, how they loved the land.
And they came from everywhere to the Great Divide
seeking a place to stand or a place to hide.

Down in the crowded bars out for a good time,
can't wait to tell you all what it's like up there.
And they called it paradise, I don't know why.
Somebody laid the mountains low while the town got high.

Then the chilly winds blew down across the desert,
through the canyons of the coast to the Malibu
where the pretty people play hungry for power
to light their neon way and give them things to do.

Some rich man came and raped the land, nobody caught 'em,
put up a bunch of ugly boxes and, Jesus, people bought 'em.
And they called it paradise, the place to be,
they watched the hazy sun sinking in the sea.

You can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina
just like the missionaries did so many years ago.
They even brought a neon sign 'Jesus is Coming',
brought the white man's burden down, brought the white man's reign.

Who will provide the grand design, what is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier, we have got to make it here.
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds
in the name of destiny and in the name of God.

And you can see them there on Sunday morning
stand up and sing about what it's like up there.
They called it paradise, I don't know why.
You call some place paradise - kiss it goodbye




SeeksOnlyOne -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 5:49:40 PM)

goodun Sinergy.....this has to be my all time fav....

Print: Eagles - The Last Resort Lyrics print version

edited cuz he beat me to it dang it-lol



Sinergy -> RE: why its good to live in your hometown (8/4/2007 5:51:32 PM)

 
Jinx.

Sinergy



Page: [1] 2 3 4   next >   >>

Valid CSS!




Collarchat.com © 2025
Terms of Service Privacy Policy Spam Policy
3.100586E-02