[smarino]

This is what may be called (and IS) the final straw. I have seen the light. I just discovered, from the manager's own mouth, that a Java Jungle coffee house here in South Daytona that I've been frequenting has it's many, many cameras inside routed directly to the police department! Audio too. It seems the owner is married to the deputy sheriff. I don't know the owner personally, but there was a red flag in my book when, a few weeks after she opened, she was proudly displaying by the cash register a big religious retreat to discuss the Book of Revelations and the coming times.

I had stopped going to Marlays coffee house in downtown Daytona because, nice place though it is, it gets some of the strangest people I have ever seen in a coffee house. Fundamentalist Christians holding prayer services at the tables now and then, 12-step meetings being held at other times, and when I went Sunday, there were several people at tables at the restaurant next door giving a poor homeless woman passing by a ton of mean grief because she dared to mention that she had just come from the church, and had eaten a free meal there. They asked her where she had been, she didn't just volunteer it. They were hollering "There's plenty of jobs. Go out and get one"! and more stuff that I would not put here on the forum. I know this woman, she gets disability, and usually runs out of money quickly because the state will not help w/ her medication costs (no affordable health care in this state). She goes to the churches to eat because she has no money, and she certainly is not able to work.

At Marlays, there are also cameras all over the place, including out on the sidewalk, and there's a smart aleck sign that says "We're watching you" right next to the outside camera. I like to go by it and give it the old Italian salute, if you get my drift. The owner there is always hob nobbing w/ the police (who should be out solving some of the many unsolved murders in Volusia county instead of drinking coffee and harassing teens on skateboards). I don't like the cops, and I don't like cop lovers.

There's always Jacob's Well Coffee House I suppose, just a few blocks down on Beach Street in Daytona. All Christian, all the time, with Christian preaching and singing videos going, bookshelves full of nothing but Christian books, etc.

Another thing that has been eating at me was the Klu Klux Klan distributing leaflets in a black neighborhood in New Smyrna Beach a while back. The leaflets were in baggies w/ a rock inside, ostensibly to help them throw them further, but what's the REAL message there? The mayor of said city said not one, single, solitary word about the incident (gee, I wonder who his supporters are?) and the deputy mayor made some sort of mealy mouth statement that "we don't want our citizens to be disrespected". Disrespected! This is a terrorist organization known for hanging black people and burning down their homes w/ the families inside!

So, as soon as our cat finally dies from cancer (she couldn't take a big move at this point in her little life) we are heading back to Hawaii. It's expensive there, there is a fair amount of racism from the locals, and the cost of living is really high, but I don't care. This sort of thing would never be tolerated there, ever. Now some people may say "so what? If you have nothing to hide, who cares if the cameras feed into the police department". I say those people are part of the problem, and they are nuts. Who gave them the right to do this? This is such an unbelievable violation of privacy that I am having trouble wrapping my mind around it. It's abuse of power in a totalitarian police state, where the majority of the citizens probably see it as a good thing. And besides, it's not just that. It's just too much on top of too much to ignore anymore. All of this really, really, crazy stuff is what I am totally opposed to. We own a neat mobile home in a senior park that is dirt cheap to live in, it's quiet, the neighbors are pretty much OK, but it's just not worth it to stay here anymore. We do not belong here. If I told this story to my friends on the islands (and I am leaving out tons of stuff that has happened in Volusia county in the three years we've lived here), they wouldn't believe it. Well, the youngest stepson who lives in Hilo, Hi would. He keeps reading the news online, and emailing us asking "why are you folks living over there in that place"? Stupidity I guess, but it's possible to smarten up.

[Trigger-f]

Originally Posted by smarino

So, as soon as our cat finally dies from cancer (she couldn't take a big move at this point in her little life) we are heading back to Hawaii. It's expensive there, there is a fair amount of racism from the locals, and the cost of living is really high, but I don't care. This sort of thing would never be tolerated there, ever.

Fyi..HI has a huge meth problem. They seem to tolerate other things there.. No place is perfect..

Drugs, Inc.: Hawaiian Ice | National Geographic Channel

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by smarino

This is what may be called (and IS) the final straw. I have seen the light. I just discovered, from the manager's own mouth, that a Java Jungle coffee house here in South Daytona that I've been frequenting has it's many, many cameras inside routed directly to the police department! Audio too. It seems the owner is married to the deputy sheriff. I don't know the owner personally, but there was a red flag.......SNIP.

Well good for you. Life's too short to spend it where you're miserable, even when you do get off on complaining about the activities you perceive on the part of the locals.

Hope you will be happier in Hawaii.

[vaughanwilliams]

I don't blame you...the state is a freak show. And yes, I know disturbing things happen elsewhere too, but Florida takes it to a new level.

[gypsychic]

Good luck, OP. But remember, Daytona is a pit of a coastal city - you chose to live there. It most certainly does NOT represent all of Florida. You don't have to leave Florida to be living in a better city. You do know how HI is horrendously expensive to live, hope you are still prepared for that. If you can afford HI, you could afford a really nice city in FL. JMO

[tinytrump]

hmm go where you wish but there are issues everywhere- maybe not the same issues, but there is no perfect MAN

[bigh110]

"So, as soon as our cat finally dies from cancer (she couldn't take a big move at this point in her little life) we are heading back to Hawaii." letting your cat dictate when you move now that's what i call crazy! Letting your poor cat suffer from cancer that's even crazier!

[Spring Hillian]

Have a nice flight back. Nobody should ever live in a place that does not meet their expectations.

I hope there arent any religious zealots in HI.

[Fl1150]

Bye bye and oh by the way I like how you cherry picked certain issues that don't affect majority of the population but to each their own.

[beachmouse]

I'm sorry about your cat.

And I'd probably switch the coffee-buying over to Starbucks or McDonalds if you keep running into the overly religious at the local indie places.