Worst thing about NC... (Charlotte, Raleigh: chapel, attorney, employment)

[Bethanytedder]

Yes that is true about who you let your kids hang out with. Saves money too. Just think of all the money you can save without having to do an internet search to see if they criminals or sex offenders although North Carolina does have a registry that you can use for free I believe. And if for some reason you don't know the person in question, you can bet someone else will and would be more than happy to give you the 411 on them for free, good and bad. LOL

Oh anybody thinking of moving to a small southern town should rent "Doc Hollywood" with Michael J Fox. That movie pretty much sums up small town life.

[NYer]

I wasn't disagreeing with you! It's quite the opposite...


Just saying that northerners know all about it...
I also know you have lots of hispanics coming in... just seems to me that at least in the areas we looked all signs were still in English...

BTW before anyone flames me for being racist or ignorant, I am trilingual, I just feel more at home in an English- speaking setting.

I think you southerners should be proud & hang on to your culture as much as possible, b/c where I am from we have been so accomodating that we have lost our culture.

[NCKatie]

NYer, sorry for the missunderstanding. I guess it was the immotocons that made think you were being sarcastic. I owe you an apology for sure.

It's certainly heartbreaking to me (I'm a 7th generation Southerner) and to plenty of others to see our Southern Culture eroded and so quickly. Change can be good but not always. I love a good Southern accent but so many Southerners are embarrassed by theirs and try hard to lose them. Southern foods are changing, housing is looking more and more like every other home in the country, Rudeness has crept in here too. But one thing that I think will never change is good Southern writing. Southerners are born storytellers and I can't see that changing with the natives. We love to talk.

What I can hope for is when people move here from other regions and raise their children here, those children will absorb the Southern way of life and in turn teach their parents. Life is slow here and it's the most important part of living to me.

Again, sorry for my misunderstanding.

[dianalee4jc]

I just want to say something here...

I'm writing a novel that is set in rural North Carolina. I live in Georgia. Why I decided to set the thing in NC, I don't know. It just felt right. So of course I had to drive up there to see the area (Nash County) and do some research. What I found there was exactly what I had envisioned (kinda scary!), and I knew I had made the right choice. The people were VERY friendly and welcoming to me, and I immediately felt a deep affection and respect for them. I was walking into THEIR world and learning about it from them... and my openness was rewarded.

I love where I live now, in Canton, Georgia (which is not quite as rural, but still has the small-town charm), but if circumstances dictated a move to North Carolina, I wouldn't hesitate.

Cheers, ya'll!
Diana

PS -- hot, humid summers? Boy can I relate! But I'm envious because someone said in NC they only last for about three weeks in July and August. Dang! Try June to September in Georgia! LOL

[luckydog]

But I'm envious because someone said in NC they only last for about three weeks in July and August

Unless they are far west of Raleigh, that's ridiculous. In coastal NC, it's May through October.

[Bethanytedder]

Luckydog is correct here about the humidity and heat. I have seen it be 75 degrees or higher on Christmas Day. September is nearly as bad as July and August. Generally speaking by October it is cooler some days but it is nothing to have 40 degree weather one day and 75 the next. I have seen snow on the ground to be melted by the 70 degree heat the day after the snow came. About the time we get rid of the hottest part of the weather, it is spring and time to start all over again. Right now it is 79 degrees here and we are headed for a high of 84 degrees. The day my daughter graduated from college, it was almost a 100 degree on May 11th. And the ceremony was outside. We were betting on who would pass out first, me, my sister or my elderly mother. I think my sister won the bet. She is 15 years older than I am. My mother is tough. She came from a long line of women that lived to be well over 90.

[dianalee4jc]

Okay, now I don't feel so bad! LOL

Yeah, we've got the same kind of situation here in Georgia. I remember the first year I lived here, seeing a rose in full bloom in December. Having come from Chicago, this of course blew my mind. You couldn't pay me enough money, though, to move back north and have to deal with four or more months of winter snow and cold.

[backfist]

Jerseymom~

Although we haven't moved to NC yet, I thought I offer a nugget of food for thought.

I'm African American, my wife is Caucasian and our kids are the most beautiful young people you'd ever wanna meet--inside and out. And if we're considering moving to NC, then know that you won't be alone in terms of your expectations. In fact, many middle and upper-middle class African Americans are leaving northern and western areas and are "returning" to the South. So you can image that there's an expectation of respect, decency and honor by those who are returning; and little tolerance for the contrary.

That said, we're not concerned about civil war revisionists or blue bloods who expect genuflection, or slow talkin' locals (my wife will fit right in), although we'll certainly be respectful. It's a new day in the USofA, and it'll be nice to become North Carolinians.

In the immortal words of Stevie Wonder: Don't you worry 'bout a thing.

[Ms.Charlotte]

Backfist,
Thanks for that. You put a smile on my face.

[NYer]

To backfist
We have some AA friends returning to the south- Virginia to be exact. You have a good attitude, I think I will adopt it.