Living in Florida

The only people who are really okay with living in Florida were born here and don't know any better. Most of us weren't born here. We introduce ourselves by giving people our names and asking them where they're from. Then we complain and lament the fact that we ever moved here. It's just not a happy place. The sun and the heat are unbearable. People in Florida don't actually go outside. That's all a facade. We hide in our houses wearing hoodies with our central air on 74 degrees. I bet you any given person in Florida has more hoodies than anyone in like Michigan. You literally can't see when you walk outside and you immediately lose your energy. The heat just drains you. But it does happen to get pretty cold in winter. We hit 30 and 40 degrees too. It just bounces around a lot and never actually gets cold enough to snow, which is heartwrenching. Holidays are ugly. Decorations are tacky, but most people just don't bother. The sky and everything else turns a miserable dingy gray, but it never snows. You also can't walk outside barefoot in Florida. The grass is dead and dry, but mostly it's sand spurs. They're these little spiky balls that cover almost every bit of land and will embed themselves in your skin. It's miserable.

Don't fool yourself into belieing that if you visit Florida you'll go to Disney World all of the time or live at the beach. The beach is an overcrowded mess. But if you're willing to drive for it you can find a good one. No one ever goes to Disney or Universal unless it's for school trips. You at least won't go more than you did when you had to fly here. Everyone admits that they never really go. You could go at any time, so you just never do.

The school system down here is abysmal. No one knows anything. We're way behind other states. The job market is a mess. Florida has one of the highest unemployment rates and is a right-to-work state. I don't know exactly what a right-to-work state is, but it sure gives my dad hell. He's been working at the same company for 5 years and has never gotten raise, but sure has been put in charge of an entire warehouse. Government aid for college is quite good though. That's why I'm still here.

Housing in Florida is also..suckish. The houses here are mostly small; one-story; flourescent pink, yellow, green, purple, etc.; and expensive. It tooks us months to get used to it. They're so tiny and sooooo expensive! No basements, no attics. They're just plain ugly. Even the 2-story houses look ridiculus. Walk-in closets also don't really exist down here.

Anyways, I'm sure there's more, but this is already long and rambling. Just don't.