Oak Ridge Scary stuff (Martin: maintenance, disposal, live)

[inave]

Can't believe I never knew about the restaurant in the Days Inn. Been to The Dinner Bell and Altruda's several times. Will check out the Mexican place.

BBK, I WISH I had neighbors like you. Perhaps then I'd be satisfied to stay in OR but, since most are "progressive" (i.e., expect several people to drown since it's raining today and their noses are fixed in the upward position), we're looking to move closer to normal folks.

[bbkaren]

Amen, inave--there's space for you in Kingston! ;-)

[jabogitlu]

As a "progressive," guess I should be offended, but I'm one of those good old Southern people that will still say welcome to TN, hope you have a good time here. You'll find many others that think like you (a little misguided, perhaps), too!

(BTW - rigid classifications are dangerous. I drink filtered water, not Evian, and I play in the dirt. I don't have a college degree nor am I pursuing one at the moment. I'm vegetarian, but I grew up on a dairy. I know how to raise tobacco and if modern society collapses, I'll be one of those people who can exist entirely on what I grow from my own ground. But yep, I'm progressive. Not sure where I fit into your mix.)

[bbkaren]

I was generalizing, totally--Just a list of my collective pet peeves, is all.

Nobody I know has all those attributes. I'm just very out of place here in NJ.

[jabogitlu]

No worries. I'm probably as out of place here as you are there. I know how frustrating it can be, sometimes.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by bbkaren

Thanks WAR--now, Cinco de Mayo, she's good or she's not so good?

As for my pet peeve with "progressive" attitudes. For me, it not only means progressive in the politically liberal sense but also in the literal sense i.e., non-traditional.

I like meat and potatoes. I dislike tofu. We eat butter, lard, and salt. We like to enjoy the life we're living, and if seven more years can be added on our lives by eating some soy crapola, well, I'm not sure I want 'em.

I like big gas guzzling cars (fast, old muscle cars if possible). I dislike the Prius.

I "give a hoot, don't pollute" because I care about the environment and don't want to put a bunch of crap there. However, I am not a "green" person because some politician handed me a line about how we're killing the world.

I like to shoot guns and ride quads. I don't hike nor do I ride a mountain bike. I believe I once damaged an endangered eastern prairie fringed orchid. I'm not sorry and I won't apologize to the rest of the orchids.

I like tap water. I don't like to carry around an Evian bottle because I need "special" water.

My kid plays around in the yard and gets dirt and Lord-knows-what on his hands. He wipes them on his pants and chases after the dog. I don't chase behind him with an intravenous drip of Purell and follow it with a Clorox dip in the tub.

In my family, we have some with college degrees and some who eked out a high school diploma. We're all succeeding at the things in life that are important to us. Maybe not the things that are important to the neighbors, but...well, the neighbors' opinions aren't on our "important" list.

We heat with wood. We don't heat with solar, batteries, a windmill, nor a hamster treadmill.

My kid got made fun of in school for his braces and his hyperactivity. It's okay; he's stronger and thicker skinned now.

My family makes enough money to live and have what we want. We don't make enough money to obsess about keeping up with the Joneses. I hope we never do.

My neighbor has a refrigerator on his deck, and we're okay with that. I don't feel the need to organize a neighborhood meeting to review the criteria for living on our street.

We love our country. We support our President and our military regardless of whether mistakes have been made. We are where we are; and if not unified, we are nothing.

We have a pit bull mix. He's wonderful. And I won't move anywhere that they say we can't have him.

My kids play kickball and dodgeball. They get hit by the ball sometimes and, sometimes they lose. It's okay.

I don't believe in gated communities. If you live somewhere that you don't want to see the natural inhabitants, you need to move.

For me, these are some of the distinctions between "down to earth" and "progressive".

Upon re-reading this post, now it's all clear to my why I'm not scared of a little goop in the dirt lol

I'm with you on all of it, bbkaren, except that there is a lot more to it than "goop in the dirt."

[Godsdove]

We've been in Oak Ridge since last April. No fears of toxicity. And we have thought that most everyone here is super nice.

[gemkeeper]

Jabogitlu, I agree about labels being very misguiding and unfair to everyone. Every individual actually is in a group of "one"!

But everybody, what exactly are we talking about when we use the term "progressive" in this thread?

I think that one can only use the term to define a singular thought, ideal or value. It is an adjective that has to be applied to a thing, not a class or group that has a list of variables. It has no defining meaning in that case.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by gemthornton

But everybody, what exactly are we talking about when we use the term "progressive" in this thread?

Could be car insurance????

[gemkeeper]

That must be it, SMG. It is the only thing that makes sense!