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Equality: Canadian women are not there yet
At the upcoming G8 Summit Canada will champion a worthwhile initiative to improve maternal and child health in developing nat...read more...
At the upcoming G8 Summit Canada will champion a worthwhile initiative to improve maternal and child health in developing nat...read more...
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Mocking Florida ...and other bad pastimes
Date Posted: 2/7/2010 2:43:00 PM -
It’s easy to mock Florida. I did it and in writing too; while it’s hard to un-ring that bell, after spending three years in the Sunshine State, I’m trying. So like the recently converted in any category - think non-smoking, vegetarianism, hybrid cars – I get incensed when someone disses the thing that I’m now embracing. Arnold Schwarzenegger did just that at the Next American Economy Conference a few days go. In his speech, the governor of California said that one state is famous for potatoes and another one for its oil, and concluded by saying that “Florida is known for old people.” He also insulted Iowa but since I don’t personally know how fascinating Iowa can be, I can’t really comment on that.
First, at 63 years of age, the “guvernator” is only two years away from social security himself so who is he calling old? Florida is known for much more than old people. Admittedly, the state song is "Old Folks at Home" and a number of Florida drivers are centenarians whose heads disappear over the back of their driver's seat. On the up side, I swear it’s the fabulous weather and flat terrain that encourages older people to get out and about all year long and that’s a good thing.
Second, California has a greater number of older people than Florida -- 3.6 million people over 65 versus our 2.8 million in the last census.
Third -- and now I’m just being vindictive – California is a bankrupt shell of a state whereas Florida is known as a diverse and business-friendly state, with no state income tax. While I generally like California, driving into Los Angeles from the mountains reveals a giant smog bank that can make you want to turn tail and run. City of Angels? I don’t think so.
Yeah, yeah, Florida’s the state of the dangling chad voting debacle, yearly hurricanes, pricey theme parks and more alligators than humans --sort of like the New Zealand sheep to people ratio. The difference is that sheep can’t eat you.
Florida is also known for sunshine (albeit a little less this year) beaches, NASA, spring break, NASCAR, and a mind-boggling diversity of flora and fauna. In the past few weeks, and with no effort at all, I’ve spotted two great horned owls, a plethora of ‘gators, sandhill cranes, more water birds than I can identify, a fox, a bobcat, armadillos, hawks, eagles, vultures, snakes and countless other critters. And that was just in my own back yard.
We’ve got the mermaids of Weechi-Watchee Springs, Key West, authentic Mexican and Cuban cuisine. Believe me, done right - Cubans -- the sandwich not the people – is right in claiming bragging rights as a state highlight.
Florida is the pirates of Gasparilla, the aforementioned mermaids and eating food on a stick while warming a bleachers and watching baseball’s greats swing a bat during spring training.
It's Sunday morning eating Cuban toast and drinking coffee strong enough to dissolve a spoon. It's paddling a kayak in the mangroves or looking for shells on Nokomis Beach. It’s doing nothing at all on Pine Island except reminisce about what Florida was like before development.
It's waiting for a space shuttle to rise on a spectacular pillar of fire. It's going five miles in any direction from a housing development and seeing thousands of acres of rural farms and ranches and citrus groves.
Sure, Florida is for old people but it’s for plenty of other people too. I’m just one of them.
COMMENTS
Date Posted: 2/7/2010 2:43:00 PM -
It’s easy to mock Florida. I did it and in writing too; while it’s hard to un-ring that bell, after spending three years in the Sunshine State, I’m trying. So like the recently converted in any category - think non-smoking, vegetarianism, hybrid cars – I get incensed when someone disses the thing that I’m now embracing. Arnold Schwarzenegger did just that at the Next American Economy Conference a few days go. In his speech, the governor of California said that one state is famous for potatoes and another one for its oil, and concluded by saying that “Florida is known for old people.” He also insulted Iowa but since I don’t personally know how fascinating Iowa can be, I can’t really comment on that.
First, at 63 years of age, the “guvernator” is only two years away from social security himself so who is he calling old? Florida is known for much more than old people. Admittedly, the state song is "Old Folks at Home" and a number of Florida drivers are centenarians whose heads disappear over the back of their driver's seat. On the up side, I swear it’s the fabulous weather and flat terrain that encourages older people to get out and about all year long and that’s a good thing.
Second, California has a greater number of older people than Florida -- 3.6 million people over 65 versus our 2.8 million in the last census.
Third -- and now I’m just being vindictive – California is a bankrupt shell of a state whereas Florida is known as a diverse and business-friendly state, with no state income tax. While I generally like California, driving into Los Angeles from the mountains reveals a giant smog bank that can make you want to turn tail and run. City of Angels? I don’t think so.
Yeah, yeah, Florida’s the state of the dangling chad voting debacle, yearly hurricanes, pricey theme parks and more alligators than humans --sort of like the New Zealand sheep to people ratio. The difference is that sheep can’t eat you.
Florida is also known for sunshine (albeit a little less this year) beaches, NASA, spring break, NASCAR, and a mind-boggling diversity of flora and fauna. In the past few weeks, and with no effort at all, I’ve spotted two great horned owls, a plethora of ‘gators, sandhill cranes, more water birds than I can identify, a fox, a bobcat, armadillos, hawks, eagles, vultures, snakes and countless other critters. And that was just in my own back yard.
We’ve got the mermaids of Weechi-Watchee Springs, Key West, authentic Mexican and Cuban cuisine. Believe me, done right - Cubans -- the sandwich not the people – is right in claiming bragging rights as a state highlight.
Florida is the pirates of Gasparilla, the aforementioned mermaids and eating food on a stick while warming a bleachers and watching baseball’s greats swing a bat during spring training.
It's Sunday morning eating Cuban toast and drinking coffee strong enough to dissolve a spoon. It's paddling a kayak in the mangroves or looking for shells on Nokomis Beach. It’s doing nothing at all on Pine Island except reminisce about what Florida was like before development.
It's waiting for a space shuttle to rise on a spectacular pillar of fire. It's going five miles in any direction from a housing development and seeing thousands of acres of rural farms and ranches and citrus groves.
Sure, Florida is for old people but it’s for plenty of other people too. I’m just one of them.
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