I was annoyed and perplexed by the Yankee transplants who wear puffy jackets gloves and toboggans just because the calendar says November even if it is sunny and 65 degrees.
They dress for New Jersey November and not Charlotte were fall runs until well past Christmas.
And so It shouldn't surprise me that they run roughshod over my Southern Christmas traditions.
So Here's the letter a "re-post" hope you don't mind.
Garish and shrill are not words normally associated with our Southern Christmas. But leave it to transplanted northerners to bring their idea of Christmas to Charlotte.
A Southern Christmas has been for nearly 200 years the highlight of social awareness and decorum. A carefully placed single red bow on a mail box, a wreath on a window, or the extreme southerfamily: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
How odd it is to see blow-up snowmen in yard after yard in a land where snow is a rarity.
An illuminated blow up Santa and baby Jesus standing side by side, along with strings of lights that not only run the roof line but outline each and every window. Flashing, buzzing, whirling displays are suddenly aplenty.
It seems to our transplanted northern neighbors that if it doesn't look right the first time, just buy some more. My once classic southern neighborhood has become the Griswold Family Christmas card in "Da Hood".
Not one but two blow up Grinch reside within my neighborhood, they seem to sneer at my cherished southern accent along with the 11 Frosty the Snowman that abound.
One neighbor is even convinced that the poly packing meant to keep the red bow from being crushed wasn't worth the trouble of removing before attaching to his mailbox.
The Southern Christmas was once the product of the tough times following reconstruction. A single candle was spared, magnolia branches cut, the forest scoured for a couple of perfect pine cones and a in a good year a tree was taken, most often a good sized cedar would do.
In more recent time, a trip to Simpson's, was always in order, the best tree from the lot on Kings Drive was always a welcome event no matter how cold the day.
Later this year as I drive past the wonderful homes that abound in my 28277 zip code I can count on not one real Christmas tree being laid at the curbside the day after Christmas.
Oh have times changed.
A Foot Note: I know I'm being a Snob, a Grinch and so on... I know the kids like the lights and that I should let people do their own thing. But I'd really like to see the stars rather than the glare from 15 Million GE Christmas Wonder Lights.
Then there was the 3 year old down the street, I'd bitched about the yard full of inflatables in years past and just saw "Dad" installing a Hello Kitty Christmas inflatable.
I had to eat my words when I drove past the second time and saw the little girl standing in the doorway her eyes wide with wonder at the amazing sight of the giant blow up Hello Kitty.
OK Lord I Give!
41 comments:
My Southern Lady, now two decades deceased, always insisted on a big tree. Very little outside decoration except for a couple of years during the multiple decades we were together. We migrated to an artificial tree when real trees became too expensive. I could never make myself put up a tree after. . . Christmas was my Lady's biggest holiday. Too many memories. Then my daughter and grandchildren moved in with me. It took years to convince them that they should. Financial and recently caregiving. Win - win. In 2019, when it came time to take down the tree the ornaments and the colored lights were put away but the disassembly and packing up of the tree became too daunting. It had a pale blue string of maybe 20 tiny lights wrapped around the "trunk" and an outer layer of a few hundred (not many for that big tree) white lights. It makes a great night light. In September of this year the tree acquired another string of more intense tiny blue lights. Contrarian decoration that has its own charm. The grandchildren have insisted that the tree will be packed away properly in January 2021.
Had 2 more take a dirt nap (thank you by the way). When these shitbirds wipe themselves out that’s the best community service ever. What’s that make now? 105?
Should be upwards of 106 or 107?
We're gonna need a BIGGER boat!
So in the interest of equality, how come no one ever talks about Gallant coming back on that double dip like Putney got blocked from doing?
Seems like that bullshit to me. I think we need to bring back our jump out boys from back in the day. Imagine you are sitting at the bus stop and the van pulls up and Cecil, Stella, Allie, Brian, Christian, and Norman all jump out to grab you?
What would you do? Fight or wait for court?
Kornburg came back as a Major? WTF
I'm still trying to figure out the deal with Gerald Smith?....Not that I really care just curious.
They wouldn't let Hummel come back as a Captain on a special unit!
1:22. Are you serious? That old fucker is back as a hire back?
Man, y’all must be hurting for people.
Left for a small town PD and won’t look back. The stress is like zero and the job is fun when you have a chief that has your back.
Just told by my LT to leave off the PDP charge. Says things are changing and the DA will drop all drug charges presented. Even Schedule I. Anyone else getting this crap?
@0701: If you’re still rousting and harassing low level users in Mecklenburg County and expecting ANYONE to give a f*ck, you’re an idiot. You’re so dumb in fact, I’ve got this pledge fund thing I’d like you to join where you give me a fiver a week and when you retire you’ll get 12k... Wanna join???
I’ve said it a thousand times. Shut up, stay low, find an empty parking lot to sit in, get a new game for your phone and stop pretending it’s 2003 and anyone wants us doing anything. All the gung-ho bullshit from the clowns who are still pretending it’s business as usual and we swore an oath and blah blah blah doesn’t mean anything. Those rah-rah types will either be fired or quit. If you think it’s ok to police at cmpd in 2020, go talk to the boys on metro CRU, if they still worked here, of course.
Guarantee if they had it to do over again, they’d have gone and grabbed a coffee and let that moron Easter go smoke his dope in peace.
^^^ gotta agree. Can’t fight the machine. The chocolate powers that be make the rules now. Answer your calls,
Don’t do shit and go home. Collect a pay check
Like to see the city do something about the tent city downtown. WTF!!! People gotta live downtown and pay huge property taxes only to get accosted by “hey man can I get some money for some food” guy. Taxation without representation
^ don’t get me started on that bullshit. This is gonna be another San Francisco before long. I’d like to see some tents pitched outside Vi Lyles house. See how fast that shit gets gone. She’d be calling JJ on his cell phone asking for the damn SWAT team. The folks coming down and feeding them are only enabling their behavior. I’m all for helping the poor but that’s why we got shelters. They don’t wanna go to the shelters
HIDEY HOLE!!! I'm in mine and my radio hasn't crackled once today! Now if I can just decide where to milk out a looong lunch?
9:55 it aint just the low level stuff DA told the white shirts to forget drug crimes altogether. Smoke it, grow it sell it all cool now in Charlotte. If you so much as take their weed or crack pipe you'll get written up. Unless its an AWDW don't even call it in.
Hidey whoes!
CMPD is up and coming! The best pay, equipment, latest techniques in law enforcement, take home cars, educational incentives, experienced leadership, etc. You just don't see the potential for opportunity. You should take advantage of it.
1214! You are funny! I liked that. You must be the guy that said SLANG IT CECIL.
What are the small town PDs people are going to though ?
^^ man pick one. Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson Mooresville. All hiring. Yeah you’ll take a small pay cut but they don’t make you comp your hours. Won’t need off-duty cause you’ll have that OT $ baby
What about outside Mecklenburg county ? I know some unhappy people working in Huntersville right now, and there are some looking to go to CMPD. I think it is important to get out of Mecklenburg county all together. Huntersville also uses CMPD reporting system and dispatch, and they are almost like another CMPD division, like the Airport.
I was thinking Mooresville, also Cabarrus or Union area agencies.
^^ yeah the airport isn’t a real division.
Mooresville has always been a good department, just small.
I thought that might generate some conversation.
Airport is a joke. It was a joke when they had the actual airport police.
Pledge fund?
Stella and Pearsall are going to show all y'all how to police!
4:15. Don’t hate us cause you ain’t us.
4:20. No one is hating on you but seriously dude. Few years back we were coming back from Disney and saw a damn 90 year old officer still wearing a CMPD uniform walking down the terminal. Maybe you all were once good cops...
Jerry Orr didn't help matters back in the day.
Back to the original post and first comment by Nov 27 9:32
Great comment thanks for sharing best to you and your family as the holidays roll on. And yes the grandkids have it right come January we are going to put the tree up. LOL
Is Stella doing another photo shoot out outside in the parking lot?? We get it. We see it. Black woman in DC uniform. That's only for ceremonies anyways.
^^ I wouldn't doubt it.
Cue the Carly Simon song, "You're So Vain"....
525, This is a different guy. I agree with you. If you are still a cop after 45 than that shit is torture. Some people retire and come back! This shit is a fucking shithole and these people become attached to this place like highschool football field. It makes them feel special. How could Vicki even come back to this place after all that this place has put her through with the bday party rat out and the time they put her head on a photo of a naked black woman's body and hung it in the locker room.
Just saw the video from the BK shooting on Beatties Ford... ya think if they would have released that tape in a timely fashion it would have prevented some rioting ??!!
Do any command staff give two fucks about boots on the ground? The answer is no, it’s nothing but self preservation and step on whatever neck you need to enroute to becoming the next company man.
7:01. Your just now seeing this? It hasn’t been good since Stephens left. The idiots we have running this place is amazing. Stella is a lying ass ho, JJ is bout retarded and Putney used to be decent when he was a Sgt at the academy. Little bit of rank and he too became a politician. Sad. It’s ok though. Keep on. Soon there’ll be no one left to do this job.
Pearsall is worthless as tits on a turkey!
Command is only concerned with their next promotion!
Post a Comment