Greeneville culture ??????s (Kingsport: home, public school, live)

[zr1sparky]

Just curious, i gather this area is conservative. By this, I mean folks are traditional with their cultural outlook. Here are some questions to help others understand the overall, general culture. This is not a joke.

How many tatoo/body piercing places are there in the greater Greeneville area?

Do town officials allow cross-dressing drag queen types to parade in their community parades? The reason i ask this one is regarding a recent 4th of July parade where these certain guys thought it was funny to dress like women with balloons as bossoms and dance in front of children, and the community allows it, year after year. This occurs in RI.

Are there organized activities for teens to participate in in order to give them something to do to keep them out of trouble?

Do the kids have access to drugs in the schools?

Are the kids respectful to adults and vice-versa?

Are the schools patrolled by the police?

Thank you

[jabogitlu]

I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my ability. I lived in Greeneville for 18 years, and went through the public school system there. The area is very conservative, yes, fiscally and socially. I don't know what "traditional with [one's] cultural outlook" means... sounds like a useless soundbyte to me. Answers in the quoted text below.

Originally Posted by zr1sparky

How many tattoo/body piercing places are there in the greater Greeneville area?

Probably a few, but I can't pick out any in my mind specifically. I'm sure they exist, but they're probably pretty gross... so most people would come up to the Tri-Cities, I'd imagine.

Do town officials allow cross-dressing drag queen types to parade in their community parades? The reason i ask this one is regarding a recent 4th of July parade where these certain guys thought it was funny to dress like women with balloons as bossoms and dance in front of children, and the community allows it, year after year. This occurs in RI.

Can't say that I've ever seen that in a Greeneville parade. But then again, I only know one cross-dresser that lives there. I'm fairly sure he would not be permitted in a parade, though.

Are there organized activities for teens to participate in in order to give them something to do to keep them out of trouble?

Unfortunately, social life in Greeneville (for teens and otherwise) tends to revolve around church and church-related functions. That means that those of us who were/are not religious have very little else to do. And I'd imagine even religious kids get tired of it all the time. So, no, not really.

Do the kids have access to drugs in the schools?

Yep. What school system doesn't have this problem???

Are the kids respectful to adults and vice-versa?

Generally, I guess. Probably moreso than in some parts of the country, and less-so than in others. Depends on the child, and the adult. Your question almost assumes that all adults are worthy of respect, which is surely not the case.

Are the schools patrolled by the police?

The high schools have full-time police presence.

[zr1sparky]

Thank you for replying so quickly!

You did a fine job answering the ???s. I appreciate you taking the time!

Does anyone else know if there are tatoo/piercing places in the Greeneville area?

I'm surprised about the police in the schools. How would you describe their role there? How many are there? What do they do? Do they patrol or sit in an office, in the patrol car? I seriously would like to know. Thanks!

[jabogitlu]

not sure about Greeneville High, as it's in the city realm. Otherwise, one police member... sitting in their cars in the morning and afternoon, throughout the day patrolling the halls or monitering the cameras, depending on the time of day.

[zr1sparky]

Thanks again, i suspect folks aren't taking these ????s seriously, other than yourself, of course. I sure appreciate it!

[SarahSal]

Hmmm, As a former CT yankee, I find it intriguing that several CT folks have been posting on the Tri-cities site.. What drew you here? Is there some NETN/Ct connection?

[zr1sparky]

You know, objectively, it's interesting to me as well, and i'm an example of it, clearly. Lemme see....

I've been lurking on this forum for months and reading as much as i can, so interesting.

I think it begins with the fact my wife and i have embraced a Baptist world view in which the world, and to a much greater extent, the NE does not. We yearn for Mayberry, i guess. Of course, it doesn't exist anywhere these days, but, it would seem the general NETN culture is better rooted in tradition. The ???s i asked earlier were just a certain couple specifics that have been on our hearts of late.

I recall watching that despicable display, in front of children, at the parade and thinking to myself.."there's no way they'd allow that in NETN." I was looking for confirmation, is all.

Furthermore, i believe this new trend towards body piercing/tatoos is a further departure from the tradition judeo-christian values our country was founded. Clearly, there are biblical references to this exact thing.

Furthermore, the weather, scenery and affordability are compelling reasons as well.

We're planning our first visit to the area in November where we'll see for ourselves.

Hopefully, the grass is as green as it is in the pics...

[jkmiller]

Originally Posted by zr1sparky

Hopefully, the grass is as green as it is in the pics...

Oh no! I hope you aren't too discouraged when you see our grass in November. It really isn't green at all. If you are going to be here in early November, you might get the "tail end" of the beautiful tree colors. Much later than that, you will get bare trees and brown grass. But please don't let that discourage you from visiting! I have lived many, many places, but so glad to come back to my home town of Kingsport. Good luck and hope you enjoy your visit to beautiful NETN.

[SarahSal]

As a comparison... I lived in CT most of my life before moving south. Flying into Bradley International Airport during the winter was always so depressing; everything on the ground was frozen white and the trees looked gray or black from the air.. It just all looked grim and spelled cold, cold, cold.. Then came the first time I flew in and out of the Tri-cites during a Florida visit; the difference in the landscape below was amazing (not to mention the beautiful mountains) everything looked golden from the air.. I knew it was probably cold but it wasn't that same grim CT landscape.
And the winters here are nothing like those never-ending winters I remember from the last place we lived in northern Litchfield County!
You'll love those kind of differences here.. SS

[mbmouse]

The one thing I noticed difference between CT winters and TN winters was this: In my opinion if it is 20 degrees out, there had better be snow to play in! Here there isn't much of any snow that lasts more than 6 hours or so when we do get it. It can get very dismal here because everything is so dead looking but not "winter enough looking". Does that make any sense? ahahahhahaha, Like I said, that is just me.
As for the Greeneville schools, I have not answered because I do not know the little details you are looking for. I pulled my boys out of Greene County schools before my oldest hit high school. I can not speak for the city but in the county, there isn't much for the kids to do and I think that is where the issue of higher numbers of teenage pregnancies in Greene County stems from.
As for how the kids/people look and dress. This is 2008, I don't think you will find anywhere where you do not see someone with tattoos, piercings, baggy butt/over sized pants, sideways wearing hats. Now my boys know if they come home with any holes God didn't give them, I will rip it out and if they came home with colors in their skin that God didn't put there I would scrub it off. This is a common school of thought amongst some parents here. Then again, I have seen 4 year olds wearing wife beater shirts with mohawks. There is just about every walk of life represented in this area.