Before you come to NC know this... (Charlotte, Washington: home builder, to buy)

[suzmyers]

I have to say something... In February, my inlaws came for a visit for a couple of weeks. My father-in-law said to my husband, almost in tears, "its no nice to see all of the American flags". Where my husband comes from no one is allowed to fly the country's flag (England) because it might offend a neighbor from somewhere else. The public library and pools in his home town (Washington- Where "our" George Washington's family is from) are reserved 1 day out of the week only for people who are jewish, another day is set aside for middle easterners, and another for decendants of Africa. There are neighborhoods you cannot live in if you are not of a certain ethenticity (sp). Shopping centers for only certain races.
This is something that I NEVER want to see in America-anywhere. We all have our different cultures and "old" ways of life and stories to tell. It is possible to occupy the same area and celebrate our cultures, history, personal stories, and reasons why we came and why those that were born there never left. This initial thread was funny and I laughed.
Fly your flag no matter what it is. I will respect it. I am an American to the core. For those who come to this great land, I agree they must go through the proper channels. By the way it will cost us over 5-8K and about 5 years for my husband to go through them. I appreciate the fact that it is not easy or cheap to be here legally. Even though he is my husband, if he doesn't follow the immigration rules, he will be kicked out of America. It should be that way for everyone!
As far as the over crowding-I have read in Raleigh's News & Observer that some city officials (Wake Forrest) are going to put a stop to the new homes being built there due to the problems over crowding will have on the water supply. Yes the prices of homes will increase, demand will meet supply at any cost. Taxes should not change much. More people= more tax for the gov't. The new home builders are going to pay the price of the tax increases, not the home owners already there. I read that in the paper as well.

[just_sayin']

Originally Posted by pixieshmoo

That's not what I'm saying....I know we all derived from immigrants, my grandfather came here from Italy. I've never seen the movie you're speaking of though. First of all, I'm not directing this at any one particular group. Right now we're dealing with the illegal immigrant situation that's been on the news, but I'm talking about anybody who disregards what we are as a country. Again, I know we derived from immigrants and if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here. And I'm not talking about the non-border-jumping people. I think anyone who is here, no matter who they are, is entitled to our rights as Americans or American citizens, if they/we work for it and respect what is here. My point about being an american or not, I thought was self-explanatory....it wasn't meant offensively, if you are born here, you are an American (i.e. I am an American of Italian descent but the point is that I'm American, not Italian) If you come here from another country (any country), you are not an American, you are an American Citizen. If I moved to Italy, I wouldn't be an Italian, I'd be an Italian Citizen. If I had children while residing there, they'd be Italians of American descent but regardless, they'd be Italian. There were no prejudice intentions in that comment. My comments were more directed toward things going on with people who aren't here legally. I don't care where they come from, but they should not come here and expect to gain what we've worked for, yet not go through the proper channels to become an American Citizen. I have nothing against anyone specific, however, I don't think people who are here illegally should have a right to oppose anything we do, they're taking what we offer as being the most free country in the world and they're taking advantage of it. I'm grateful that my grandfather came here and worked to provide a life for his future family, but he wasn't treated good when he got here, as I'm sure many weren't. However, he worked at becoming a citizen, he didn't take for granted what was here. I'm not trying to be obnoxious and again I'm grateful, but I AM an American, I was born here where these rights were already established before I was even a twinkle in my parents' eyes. But don't get me wrong, I work for it too. I've worked since I was 14, paid my taxes, I honor my country and the people who protect it. If it wasn't for our soldiers and armed forces who are in existence now, we wouldn't be living the lives we do live. But we work for this. I wouldn't go to another country and demand to be treated like I was one of their own. Maybe it wasn't completely in-sync to the confederate flag response, but coming where I come from, we've experienced that most of these types of complaints are from people who aren't here very legally. That's all I meant.

I see what you're saying and I'm sorry about the racist inuendo (Birth of a Nation was the first full-length motion picture; a propoganda film for the KKK). But I still have to respectfully disagree with you on the American vs. American Citizen thing. Most of the people who go through all of the trouble of becoming a citizen do so for one reason; they love this country and what it stands for, and want be come a member of its society. That is what makes someone an American; not whether or not they were born here.

[pixieshmoo]

I don't argue what you're saying and your point is well put. But it's unacceptable if someone's looking for a free ride here (or anywhere for that matter). The people who really love it here and want to be part of it for themselves and their families, will in turn do or will have done what it takes to gain the proper citizenship. Having done that, then I don't disagree that they deserve it too. Anyone who refuses to do that should not be privvy to what we are about.

Nah, I'm not a racist, there's good and bad of all kinds. Unfortunately I guess a lot of opinions are based on the fact that we mostly here about the bad. Maybe people, including myself, wouldn't have such opinions if we all pointed out the good in people more often.

[Bethanytedder]

Well I decided after reading the paper this week that we are living about 20 years behind everyone else. We had a man charged with allowing cows to run free.

[suzmyers]

Originally Posted by Bethanytedder

Well I decided after reading the paper this week that we are living about 20 years behind everyone else. We had a man charged with allowing cows to run free.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Did they need to go to the store for new shoes???? Or were they thinking that the other pasture was a little greener????

[Markh]

The whole american citizen thing is so close to clashing with the immigrant issue that has been on the news lately. I think that if you work, pay your taxes, spend your money here then citizenship is okay. But if you come here, collect welfare, work under the table, don't pay taxes, then you are a criminal.

We were just chatting about this tonight. My brother in law works for a big home builder in our area and his boss told all the people that if they decide to go and join the protests on monday and not show up for wark, then dont; bother showing up on Tuesday because they would be fired!! Good approach I think....

Personally, I'm annoyed by it. The people who are working for this home builder are sub contractors and illegal. Most of them are collecting something from the government(food stamps,ssi, welfare,etc...) . Problem is that they are actually good workers, cheaper and more reliable than US workers in this case. But still my money in some way is being filtered down to them and it bothers me. I don't have a solution but I feel that I need to ***** about it sometimes.

[Carolina_native]

Well I think I noticed alot of people moving here about 7 or 8 years ago. Thats when alot of the growth really took off around here.

Here is the most frequent tags Ive seen in NC so far. Hope you know the state initials!

1. First place is a tie for NJ and NY. Hands down. Coming on in by the SUV load apparently. And I never envisioned a Cadillac pickup, but they are out there, must be a yankee, uh I mean northern thing...
2. Second place is another toss up. Id say OH and PA. OH might have a slight edge though.
3. Third, well probably neck and neck with a few contenders. Id say VT, NH, and Mass., but Mass. probably has the edge here as well.
4. Fourth, well I really didnt start noticing these til recently. WI, MI, and and MN.
5. Id give fifth place to CA, also a rather new tag showing up more here.
6. The sixth place spot belongs to Illinois. Also becoming a little more frequent.

*States like VA, TN, GA, and especially SC I dont bother to mention. Since these are border states a few are bound to drift over the state line.

*The constant influx is always NJ and NY.

[suzmyers]

Originally Posted by Carolina_native

Well I think I noticed alot of people moving here about 7 or 8 years ago. Thats when alot of the growth really took off around here.

Here is the most frequent tags Ive seen in NC so far. Hope you know the state initials!

1. First place is a tie for NJ and NY. Hands down. Coming on in by the SUV load apparently. And I never envisioned a Cadillac pickup, but they are out there, must be a yankee, uh I mean northern thing...
2. Second place is another toss up. Id say OH and PA. OH might have a slight edge though.
3. Third, well probably neck and neck with a few contenders. Id say VT, NH, and Mass., but Mass. probably has the edge here as well.
4. Fourth, well I really didnt start noticing these til recently. WI, MI, and and MN.
5. Id give fifth place to CA, also a rather new tag showing up more here.
6. The sixth place spot belongs to Illinois. Also becoming a little more frequent.

*States like VA, TN, GA, and especially SC I dont bother to mention. Since these are border states a few are bound to drift over the state line.

*The constant influx is always NJ and NY.

What about FL... or maybe FL is no longer a state! hahahaha I know of 1 FL car there! My husband's!

[mm34b]

Florida is number 1 in my part of the state around Asheville, at least between Easter and Halloween. I rarely see any tags from the Northeastern U.S.

[Carolina_native]

How could I forget Florida?? Lets include MD too though. Ok, make them the #4 spot Id say. Its common, but not too common here. Around the Charlotte area, its primarily the northern states.

Honorable mentions would be Washington state. Seen a FEW of those. Quite a trek.