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Isn't that kinda like hating water and then buying a houseboat to live on?
I've been to Paragould a hundred times, and I've never had a single problem.
Northbound...I'm educated..double degreed. When I worked, I made good money, and I try to be friendly to everybody. However, I'm probably your worst nightmare as far as being a neighbor.
I live in what you would term as "the middle of nowhere". Rural, man. On a big ol' hill with other hill folks. We got rich, and we got poor, and we're all the same. We visit, have BBQ's, drink together, buy a tractor or implement from one another, do all deals on the shake of a hand, love our mamas, and get a tear in our eye during the Star Spangled Banner.
Get the drift?
There ain't no crime here, and we don't call the police. Years ago, I remember, somebody was coming onto somebodys farm hunting, was told to leave a couple of times, and the third time the owner caught him, he just said, "There's a lot of abandoned well shafts around here, and I don't want to see you fall in one".
Point made.
So......an ol' boy from "way" out of the neighborhood buys a parcel of land in the area for hunting purposes. He don't come and see nobody. Doesn't wave when he passes you by. He's only there during season and once in a while to do a little improvement on his shack.
Then he went over to a neigbors house and angrily accused the neighbors kids of riding their four wheelers through his acreage and "tearing up" his bushes (in-the-woods?). Accusations were made until the neighbor had to tell him to leave.
Well, long story short, he ended up having a lot of problems. Stuff would go missing a *lot* from his place. He had a flat down the road, and it seemed a number of neighbors chose that time to go out and drive slowly *past* him as he changed it, etc.
He sold.
Now, I ain't condoning what happened there, and I ain't condoning what happened to you.
Ya know, I'll guarantee ya, the south is the easiest place in the world to make real friends, and the worse place if you make enemies.
You probably could have gone to one of the *many* towns that are primarily northerners that live in the town, and only asscociate with other northerners, and done just fine, but when you're in Rome, bud, dontcha think you oughtta do wht the Romans do?
As I mentioned in another thread, I've got a bumper sticker that I never put on that says, "Welcome to the south. Now go home".
Sorry you never got to see Arkansas.
Your money is probably needed more up north, anyway.
None of this really makes any sense, considering I was born not far from Paragould, and spent a majority of my life in Greene County. I've been to every corner of the state, and just about every county. I've seen all of Arkansas that I care to see. I didn't exactly get to pick where I lived, considering it all started when I wasn't quite ready to walk.
When in Rome? Okay. I didn't try to tell people they were wrong for driving trucks and listening to country music. Do whatever you want. They didn't hesitate, however, to tell me in several different ways just how much of a loser I was for not being just like them, in every category possible.
I don't have green hair with a bone through my nose. I'm actually quite normal. I'm just not enough like the people in Arkansas, and a lot of people there resent me for that.
Maybe Izard County is Utopia itself, but Paragould has major issues, and crime is just one of them.
I was there recently, and it actually made me sad to see that the town hasn't improved any since I left. Sure, there's a handful of new places to eat, but the meth problem appeared to be rampant as ever, an observation backed up by a few of the people who live there.
The stories of what goes on in the schools is just downright depressing. Some of the neighborhoods in Center Hill that were nice just ten years ago, are falling apart. Pruett street.... ugh, I don't even want to think about it.
Paragould was a MUCH better place 20-25 years ago, though I'm certain I still would have left, even if nothing had ever changed from that time. Once meth hit at some point in the 90's, it's been all downhill ever since. I realize a lot of small towns throughout the entire country have seen the same patterns. The problem in Paragould bothers me personally, because the town played a big part in my life.
I left for all sorts of reasons. Not all were cultural. There's every kind of person everywhere you go. Running away from a particular personally trait isn't going to work. First of all, the eight dollar an hour (if you were lucky enough not to start out at minimum wage) jobs weren't enough for a single guy, even in small town Arkansas. You had to work at a place seemingly forever before you could even break the ten dollar barrier... or just know somebody who knows somebody, who knows somebody else. I also don't like long, hot summers, or even short ones, for that matter.
By the way, I love my mom and my country.
Last edited by northbound74; 04-07-2008 at 08:22 PM..
So northbound, where do you live that is better than Paragould? I worked in Paragould for a while so I know the nice things and the not nice things, but I never lived there or went there to hang out aside from Mazzio's.
Alright so the only things that really stick out in my mind is Mazzio's and Hamburger Station (awesome) ..and meth...which is not so awesome...
Seriously though, I've seen my share of meth mouth in the stores there, but more than any other mid size town in Arkansas? I don't know...I think Trumann might just beat it at any rate. But I digress..
I hate the heat as well so I've been scouting for northern mid-size towns which is the reason I'm asking what is better than Paragould.
So northbound, where do you live that is better than Paragould? I worked in Paragould for a while so I know the nice things and the not nice things, but I never lived there or went there to hang out aside from Mazzio's.
Alright so the only things that really stick out in my mind is Mazzio's and Hamburger Station (awesome) ..and meth...which is not so awesome...
Seriously though, I've seen my share of meth mouth in the stores there, but more than any other mid size town in Arkansas? I don't know...I think Trumann might just beat it at any rate. But I digress..
I hate the heat as well so I've been scouting for northern mid-size towns which is the reason I'm asking what is better than Paragould.
What's better just depends on what kind of person you are, and what you like. I don't want to get into an "us versus them" thing. I just have issues with that town. Is it worse? Depends on who you ask. I like where I live now okay enough, but I wouldn't recommend it to everybody. Some people would like Paragould better, I guess. I live where I live because of my job, mostly, although I had plenty of say concerning the location. The summers are still too long and hot. I'll probably head further north in the not-so-distant future.
I didn't say Paragould had a worse meth problem than other towns, though they sometimes think that they do.
Hamburger Station?.... mmmmm. I always forget about that one.
None of this really makes any sense, considering I was born not far from Paragould, and spent a majority of my life in Greene County. I've been to every corner of the state, and just about every county. I've seen all of Arkansas that I care to see. I didn't exactly get to pick where I lived, considering it all started when I wasn't quite ready to walk.
When in Rome? Okay. I didn't try to tell people they were wrong for driving trucks and listening to country music. Do whatever you want. They didn't hesitate, however, to tell me in several different ways just how much of a loser I was for not being just like them, in every category possible.
I don't have green hair with a bone through my nose. I'm actually quite normal. I'm just not enough like the people in Arkansas, and a lot of people there resent me for that.
Maybe Izard County is Utopia itself, but Paragould has major issues, and crime is just one of them.
I was there recently, and it actually made me sad to see that the town hasn't improved any since I left. Sure, there's a handful of new places to eat, but the meth problem appeared to be rampant as ever, an observation backed up by a few of the people who live there.
The stories of what goes on in the schools is just downright depressing. Some of the neighborhoods in Center Hill that were nice just ten years ago, are falling apart. Pruett street.... ugh, I don't even want to think about it.
Paragould was a MUCH better place 20-25 years ago, though I'm certain I still would have left, even if nothing had ever changed from that time. Once meth hit at some point in the 90's, it's been all downhill ever since. I realize a lot of small towns throughout the entire country have seen the same patterns. The problem in Paragould bothers me personally, because the town played a big part in my life.
I left for all sorts of reasons. Not all were cultural. There's every kind of person everywhere you go. Running away from a particular personally trait isn't going to work. First of all, the eight dollar an hour (if you were lucky enough not to start out at minimum wage) jobs weren't enough for a single guy, even in small town Arkansas. You had to work at a place seemingly forever before you could even break the ten dollar barrier... or just know somebody who knows somebody, who knows somebody else. I also don't like long, hot summers, or even short ones, for that matter.
By the way, I love my mom and my country.
Well NB...Oddly enough I again agree with a good deal of what you say. My story is not wildly dissimilar. I guess though, I saw through some of the childishness of the people I grew up around. It helped I had a sister who got the "opportunities" to live and grow up in place like Georgia, San Diego, even Australia and she had no good things to say about any of those. So I realized that kids are kids and the ones I was growing up around giving me a hard time for not being like them were pretty much like the kids would have been anywhere else. My roots run deep in those Ozark hills. My family has been there since before Arkansas was a state. So whether or not I love each and every individual there, whether or not I agree with what some people do, no matter how backwards some things can seem, that's my land and those are my people for better or worse. I'll do what I can to make the bad things better and increase the good.
As for the jobs, AR is not the best place when it comes to incomes for non-degreed workers but... it helps to use your brain and get a degree. You can make a finer living here with a degree than many other places.
I should probably say that Paragould schools had two state championship teams, GCT-baseball and basketball, and another trip to the state tourney this year in Hot Springs, what is Paragould like? how about nearly packing the convention center in Hot Springs with a sea of green and gold in support of our school, making the 2-3 hour trip down there. I have no idea what neighbourhood in Center Hill is falling apart. GCT just started building a brand new muilti-million dollar high school on 49.
Bottom line is either you like the town or you dont, that goes for wherever one might live, if you dont like it, you will always find negative things about it.
It's a poor, rural county with a passion for their schools and H.S. sports, mostly full of the most faithful, hard working, most generous folks there are, with our share of bad apples thrown in so the Almighty can make sure we don't get too big for our britches.
Lots of things around here humble me every day, and I can hear that voice saying, "Drop that 'tude, son. Yer human AND mortal...get over it".
Utopia is a state of mind. For some folks it's Bentonville, Fayetteville, or Mountain Home. For others it's a big chunk of woods with no one around. Hopefully you will find yours.
I lived and worked in the Chicago area for 20 years. I never had a problem. I met some of the best and worst people that I've ever met. It's an urban environment and that's the mix with any such locale.
I met a lot of people that treated me as less than an equal because of my accent. I knocked every one of them over with kindness.
I did not like the numerous loud mufflers, the *really* loud sub-woofers in the tricked-out Escalades, people cutting in check-out lines because they know you won't protest, hoping my car is still there when I wake up, or hoping I didn't get robbed when I came out of a restaurant.
I just rolled with the locale and found fun in a lot of things.
It was not my utopia, and I left, but I will gladly tell anyone the good things about it along with the bad.
I sincerly believe that there is something good in everyone and that there isn't a single person I am better than, I'm just different from some.
Yes, Arkansas has a meth problem, as we all know. The last time I was privy to the DEA bulletins, around '05, AR was number 2 right below MO. Rural areas render meth labs.
You'll hear many wonderful things about Tuscon and Phoenix, but they are the two most heavily drug infested cities in the U.S., being a "clearing house" for the drug cartels to the south.
Still, I personally know folks that are retired and living there, and loving every second.
A lot of people in the AR forum don't hunt, fish, or particulary want barbecue. There's an Arkansas here for them, also.
Sorry there wasn't one for you, but I think the point of the extended thread was only that the Paragould that you were......well, actually "hostile" about, may not be the Paragould the OP will find.
I relied on the information here to my own determinate and I stick by my statement that the crime rates are far higher than indicated. I have spoken with law enforcement in Paragould, AR and they admitted that much of the crime is never reported.
The comment made by arguy1973, “Get the drift? There ain't no crime here, and we don't call the police.” Makes it clear that there is a very pervasive attitude of retribution and vigilantism. Yes, the residents in Arkansas are capable of solving crimes and keeping people in line just like the good old days. However, not everyone is comfortable with mob rule. Keep in mind that someday they might be coming for you Mr. Arguy1973.
I also was very honest in my experience that I had living in Paragould, AR. If someone is going to make a decision about moving there then they should in all fairness hear the bad with the good. To censor comments because some might find them offensive is one way to ensure no one ever gets an accurate picture.
I was on the receiving end of “Well, long story short, he ended up having a lot of problems. Stuff would go missing a *lot* from his place.” So in consideration of this I feel like I paid the price and earned the right to comment. There is an attitude that theft and property crime isn’t that much of a concern, and if you are the victim of a crime then you probably deserved it.
It is ok to have an exclusionist attitude portrayed by Arguy1973’s comment, “As I mentioned in another thread, I've got a bumper sticker that I never put on that says, ‘Welcome to the south. Now go home’.” But if anyone has an adverse reaction to this type of attitude then it is unacceptable to post it here. My Arguy1973 you don’t own the entire South you probably are in temporary possession of a small portion of it, but I will concede the fact that you probably do accurately portray the attitudes that are so prevalent there in Paragould. Yes, congratulations are in order.
You should be happy that you ran another Yankee off, but be careful because those illegal Mexicans or uppity blacks that I heard so many residents complain about might fill the space left by my departure. See, I really do listen.
I experienced discrimination in Paragould Arkansas because I am not from there and the point I made about accent was quite relevant because in just a few words someone could make all kinds of conclusions about me, and they would be accurate. I mentioned education not because I was trying to inflate myself but because it is an issue that so many residents are sensitive to. I never experienced this before so I felt it was worth commenting on.
I relied on the information here to my own determinate and I stick by my statement that the crime rates are far higher than indicated. I have spoken with law enforcement in Paragould, AR and they admitted that much of the crime is never reported.
The comment made by arguy1973, “Get the drift? There ain't no crime here, and we don't call the police.” Makes it clear that there is a very pervasive attitude of retribution and vigilantism. Yes, the residents in Arkansas are capable of solving crimes and keeping people in line just like the good old days. However, not everyone is comfortable with mob rule. Keep in mind that someday they might be coming for you Mr. Arguy1973.
I also was very honest in my experience that I had living in Paragould, AR. If someone is going to make a decision about moving there then they should in all fairness hear the bad with the good. To censor comments because some might find them offensive is one way to ensure no one ever gets an accurate picture.
I was on the receiving end of “Well, long story short, he ended up having a lot of problems. Stuff would go missing a *lot* from his place.” So in consideration of this I feel like I paid the price and earned the right to comment. There is an attitude that theft and property crime isn’t that much of a concern, and if you are the victim of a crime then you probably deserved it.
It is ok to have an exclusionist attitude portrayed by Arguy1973’s comment, “As I mentioned in another thread, I've got a bumper sticker that I never put on that says, ‘Welcome to the south. Now go home’.” But if anyone has an adverse reaction to this type of attitude then it is unacceptable to post it here. My Arguy1973 you don’t own the entire South you probably are in temporary possession of a small portion of it, but I will concede the fact that you probably do accurately portray the attitudes that are so prevalent there in Paragould. Yes, congratulations are in order.
You should be happy that you ran another Yankee off, but be careful because those illegal Mexicans or uppity blacks that I heard so many residents complain about might fill the space left by my departure. See, I really do listen.
I experienced discrimination in Paragould Arkansas because I am not from there and the point I made about accent was quite relevant because in just a few words someone could make all kinds of conclusions about me, and they would be accurate. I mentioned education not because I was trying to inflate myself but because it is an issue that so many residents are sensitive to. I never experienced this before so I felt it was worth commenting on.
im sorry but you have me mixed up with another poster..sounds like someone should read the thread before quoting me as i did not post what is implied i did..My name is mentioned with post that i did not post. ??????????
As for the jobs, AR is not the best place when it comes to incomes for non-degreed workers but... it helps to use your brain and get a degree. You can make a finer living here with a degree than many other places.
Welllll...... I tried college, but I'm not college material, I guess. I have an Associates from a tech school. The notion that everyone must get at least a B.A. for anything but flipping burgers, is a sad one. It leaves many people out of good paying jobs. Manufacturing jobs leaving the U.S. is certainly something we should be concerned about, especially for this reason. This could very well explain the so-called "rich getting richer" and "poor getting poorer" problem in this country. One day, maybe in my lifetime, there could be a migration away from our country, to find jobs that don't require such an education. I realize there are a lot of high-tech manufacturing jobs that seriously do require a degree, but how much of a degree does one need to squish rivets together in a trailer factory?
Sorry about the rant. Again.
I know a lot of people with college degrees who couldn't make it in Arkansas. For those of you who have found good jobs there, my sincere congratulations. As for the others, they usually ended up leaving. I'm married to one of to one of them. Arkansas doesn't have many jobs that pay well. I do realize they exist, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by arguy1973
I should probably say that Paragould schools had two state championship teams, GCT-baseball and basketball, and another trip to the state tourney this year in Hot Springs, what is Paragould like? how about nearly packing the convention center in Hot Springs with a sea of green and gold in support of our school, making the 2-3 hour trip down there. I have no idea what neighbourhood in Center Hill is falling apart. GCT just started building a brand new muilti-million dollar high school on 49.
Okay.
Maybe you misunderstood what I was trying to say, if you were referring to my statement about the depressing state that Paragould's schools are in. I was talking about the social problems that plague the systems. I am very close to a family with children in the schools there. Oh, the stories they have to tell...... it's just sad.
JimDavis and I have had amazingly similar experiences in Paragould. His accounts of the town are startlingly accurate. The biggest difference is that I practically grew up there. Be defensive all you want. These truths are very real to those of us who didn't have such a good experience living in that town.
For those of you who love Paragould, I'm glad you do. Really. There's a place for everyone... pardon the cliché.
Jim, it wasn't arguy1973 that made those comments, it was me.
Sociologically Jim, rural, semi-isolated native enclaves tend to self-govern and self police. This is the roots that we all, yes, you too, Jim, came from.
As "civilization" flourished, we progressively became more dependant on others to do things for us. Paint our houses, fix our vehicles, cut our lawns, and...there's always the cheap way out to not have to hire counsel, or interact with those that we deem of a lesser socioeconomic or cultural status....call the police.
Hey...they get paid to take care of our "problems", right?
If we deem someone lesser, we don't have to interact with them, right?
I mean, c'mon, what's *really* the chances that I'm gonna have a heart attack, my house is going to burn, or I'm going to get burglarized, and they're the only ones around?
Yes, Jim, I'm afraid that self-governing, self-policing, and living by the law of man, the mores and folkways, not the law of legislature, still exists.
When you were reading my post, you may have overlooked the part that said, "I don't condone this activity". I don't. I also don't feel like I'm going to change 150 years of "we like it this way", and not only am I not going to resist it, man.......I'm gonna wrap it around me and wiggle my toes in ultimate comfort, comradeship, and security.
I don't imagine you can understand that, but it's kind of like if your mama has a gas problem, you don't not go to her birthday party because of that.
I also don't condone mountain lion attacks, Jim. But they happen here too.
The self governing, self-policing instinct has been bred out of most people, as has been the hunting-gathering instinct.
Most, however, is not everybody, and there are many parts of this country, not just Arkansas by any means, that have large groups of these people that still possess these instincts...nay...this *way of life*.
The incidence of not reporting crime to the police, and therefore producing false lower crime statistics is universal in this country.
I have more than a little experience in crime stats and they are a thermometer, not gospel.
It may be that bad experiences in Paragould were a draw of the card, a self-fulfilling prophecy, or instigated by the "bad carma" projected by the recipient. However, there are thousands having *good* experience there.
I personally find myself genuflecting on a regular basis at the Delta Crawfish Farm on 412E, and that's a *drive & a half* for me.
So, Jim, I'm not being critical of you. Folks around here welcome everybody. Even the "uppity blacks and illegal immigrants" that you heard complaints about. As long as they don't think they're so much better than us, 'cause they sure ain't. When folks get into educational and monetary kudos, I guarantee we'll hold our own if not blow them away.
Personally, I'd kill for a really good tampequena, beans & rice.
So........arguy1973 is not the proper recipient of your observations.
I am.
The purpose of this thread was to inform prospective movers about the area they are examining, Paragould, and I'm sure your experiences will be noted, but you've got to understand that an across-the-board dismissal as even considering the place as inhabitable is going to be challenged.
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Criticism and censorship
