You know those stereotypes you hear about Mississippi? (Jackson, Corinth: school, living)

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

AH. NOW we've got a real conversation going. The thing is, there is just no opportunity in the delta. To give an exaggerated example, I could be the best CPA in the world, have an MBA from Harvard, and so forth, and I still could not find a decent position.
So the people with brains and education leave. They go to Memphis and Atlanta and Birmingham. The rest stay.
Well, we can't just abandon the residents of some poor crumbling town. We have to do something for them, and that's what welfare is for.
And for those types of people, moving is just too scary; they're not going to do it. PLUS, having children seems to pay more, since they get paid every time one hatches. So the poor population - unemployable as they are - just continues to grow.

Are you ready for the solution? Pay them not to have children. They have figured out that having children "pays" and it won't take very long for them to figure out that not having children "pays" even more.
I can only imagine the howling about such a program, but with modifications and qualifications I would implement it if I were King of Mississippi.

What's the difference between 'not enough jobs' and 'too many people'? Functionally, there is none. We can't just command companies to move to the delta, and companies have made it very clear they ain't going, so decreasing the other side of the equation would make it balance.

Why are there almost no chain restaurants, retailers, or corporations located in the Delta? Not that Applebee's is a sign of wealth or success, but can you even find one in Greenville?

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by Rubi3

Negro is not the n-word. The n-word is the word which is extremely offensive. Black people belong to the Negroid race. Besides, how do you know the police office was white, as in Caucasoid if he was on the radio?

I was talking to him while he was in the car ON (as in using) the radio. Saying "negro" is not custom anywhere that I'm familiar with, even in eastern Mississippi I don't hear people say that.

[zerhacke]

ColdAilment is right, even in Eastern Miss they don't say Negro. They go full out with the other N word and act like it's a good thing.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by zerhacke

ColdAilment is right, even in Eastern Miss they don't say Negro. They go full out with the other N word and act like it's a good thing.

As a matter of fact they do, it's repeated daily on the evening news.

[Listener2307]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

Why are there almost no chain restaurants, retailers, or corporations located in the Delta? Not that Applebee's is a sign of wealth or success, but can you even find one in Greenville?

I dunno. I sure wouldn't put one there. Maybe they all see it the same way I do.

[GrandviewGloria]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

Why are there almost no chain restaurants, retailers, or corporations located in the Delta? Not that Applebee's is a sign of wealth or success, but can you even find one in Greenville?

Because, as I said earlier, after people are through paying their children's (and grandchildren's and great-grandchildren's) private school tuition, there is no money left over for much of anything.

And similar to the situation with movie theatres, even if they DID open an Applebee's, one portion of the population notorious for being high-maintenance and bad tippers would keep away the portion of the population which behaves and leaves tips.

For those who have a little money left over after helping pay private school tuition for their descendants and impoverished cousins, and the children of pitiful people in their churches (whose kids were sent to the hospital by bullies in public schools, and at age ten have already attempted suicide) there are other expenses. Because of the agricultural chemicals sprayed all over everything, Leukemia and other expensive diseases are rampant. Those who have a little money tend to give to people with dying children, dying husbands...

Then there's the Random Enrichment Tax, which strikes in 'enriched' areas without warning. When you're lucky, it's just a broken window in your car - two, maybe three hundred Dollars. Or maybe it's the ceiling fan off your porch, or a bicycle. Some people have their homes burgled over and over. Others are hit with 'assessments' which run into the hundreds of thousands: head injuries , death - stuff like that.

And every time the Random Enrichment Tax 'happens', that's a little less money people have for spending on luxuries like eating out.

I would add that people in 'enriched' areas quickly learn that avoiding places where people have been drinking (OK, and pretty-much avoiding going out at night) is a good way to avoid 'incidents'. One 'incident' can result in your husband landing in jail for a few hours for trying to defend you. Your DH may leave the holding cell having been gang-raped, with permanent brain damage, and with the HIV virus. Trifecta! And all because you just had to have some onion rings and riblets. Worth it?

____________
Oh, and as for why retailers don't want to go into the Delta, even if the population numbers and income would seem to support their businesses...

As someone who has played with retail development speculation, I can tell you that retailers are desperate to get away from customers who steal, customers who deliberately fall so they can sue, customers who follow other customers home in order to rob or rape them, customers who abduct other customers from parking lots, and customers who rob and rape right there in the parking lot. They also would rather be in places where they can choose from a selection of possible employees less likely to steal/embezzle/work with thieves on the outside. They really do not make any money dealing with situations like this one, involving an employee from the Delta: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaptsFK9LsU This is simply more dramatic than usual, but is fundamentally no different from the usual day-to-day shrinkage obliterating profits. And I'm sure that the particular dynamic in evidence in that video is one reason why it's tough to make money in retail or industry in the Delta.

[jlrich]

With the exception of fast food chains, there hasn't been a chain restaurant (Applebee's type) in Greenville since the mid-80s and that was a Western Sizzlin. Those types in most of the Delta have almost always been private-owned restaurants.

[SandiK]

Except for Shoneys and Pasquales. Not bragging about them, but they have hung in there.

[Robert_J]

Originally Posted by SandiK

Except for Shoneys and Pasquales. Not bragging about them, but they have hung in there.

Now I want a roast beef covered in gravy.

Is Sherman's still there? Fermos (sp?)?

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

I think Garfield's is still in operation in Greenville.