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Old 02-13-2007, 09:26 AM
 
Location: SW MO
339 posts, read 1,419,644 times
Reputation: 158

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Wow! Where to begin with this one.

You obviously were associating with the wrong kind of people. The folks I associate with in Southwest Missouri are well educated, festidious and well-traveled. Your depiction of the people here couldn't be farther from the truth in my experience.

I will grant you that in many rural areas you will find more poverty and more of the type of people you desribe. This is true in rural areas throughout the country.

As for weather, ticks, snakes and chiggers... The winters are cold, but not like Minnesota. The summers are hot and humid, but not like Florida. The weather here is great from mid March to Mid June and again from mid September to mid-November. Stay out of the brush and tall grass and ticks and chiggers are no problem. And snakes... Don't be such a sissy.
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Old 02-13-2007, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Springfield, Missouri
2,815 posts, read 12,957,638 times
Reputation: 2000001497
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sorcerer68 View Post
The "redneck" undercurrent was a little scary. Missouri was the first place I ever heard someone use the "N" word and really mean it. Expect low levels of education, people who have never been anywhere or read anything and lots and lots of poverty. I was shocked at the lack of dental care and rampant bad personal hygene. Lots of adults spell Arkansas with a "w" on the end. Illiteracy is sadly common. I'm not saying all people are like this, there are educated, decent people as well. Meth is a terrible problem in Springfield. If you like lots and lots of white people, you'll be happy. I missed cultural diversity. Public school was surprisingly decent. There was a great sense of community. Antiques are dirt cheap. There are some beautiful old houses and a few cute storefronts. Fall is very pretty. Our neighbors were very nice and had a wonderful sense of community. Most of them had lived there all their lives and had never been further than northern Arkansas and northeastern Oklahoma.
Yes, there are lots of tornados. Good luck wherever you end up. I'm moving back to L.A. and never leaving again.
I'm sorry your experience was so bad! But your post is full of errors with regard to facts!! Kansas City is much warmer than Springfield in the summer, so is most of Missouri. The reason being that Springfield is on top of the Ozark Plateau. It's a documented fact!
Chiggers do not burrow into your skin. They are a temporary issue and when they bite, they inject a saliva that dissolves tissue which also forms a straw-like structure they use to suck the "juice" out with. Then they're gone. Once you feel the itch, the chigger is long gone. The itch is caused by an allergic reaction to the saliva of the chigger. It does not burrow under the skin at all.
The only way you'll get chigger bites is running around in tall grass or brush. The ticks aren't different from ticks anywhere else either. They cement themselves to you? First I ever heard of that. I've had a couple try to latch onto me, one I picked up in a field looking at acreage. It held on tightly for sure, but that was it's legs. There was no 'bonding' glue!!
As for dental, etc. Springfield is probably one of the most medically sophisticated cities for its size in the Midwest! Superb hospitals, medical centers, including a Cancer Research center, first rate clinics, and lots of dentists.
Now for experiences unrelated to verifiable facts:
My relatives came from California and LOVED it here! They want to build on land near me. My parents fell instantly in love with Southwest Missouri because of its beauty.
I live in the country and I have yet to see a snake.
Meth is not a general problem. There are meth addicts and an occasional lab found for sure, but it's isolated to certain elements and the Police have done a great job clearing out the labs that come up.
The white population is about 90% in Springfield itself and probably closer to 99% outside of town it's true. It's very white here. But...I've noticed other races and no one I've talked to has ever spoken disparagingly about other races.
I have friends who are a gay couple too who live in an older neighborhood off Kimbrough who fly a large rainbow flag from a flagpole in their backyard. They have no problems. People are fairly conservative, true, but also respectful.
Personal hygiene issues? I haven't noticed any difference between people here and people in California or anywhere else I've ever lived. I think that's just a frankly untrue statement. It certainly isn't my experience or anyone else's I know here.
And I dispute the claim that people here are poor...I haven't seen much poverty here. It's true some people are poor, but my impression coming here was the reverse...how prosperous it looks. And people here are hardly hick. They do not spell Arkansas with a 'w', and they go all over the world. My neighbors go all over the country and take 'romantic' trips to Hawaii. My other friends just got back from a culinary tour of Italy. Another friend just came back from an Alaskan cruise, and my neighbors across the road went to the Bahamas for the ice storm with their kids.
It's also untrue that people here are uneducated. That is a bold misstatement. Springfield is full of private colleges and learning institutes, including a University of Phoenix location, plus the State University of Missouri campus which is huge. It also has live theater and a thriving art culture. It's rather sophisticated in my experiences.
I had no culture shock moving here fyi and tornadoes are rare, so rare I doubt you've even seen a whirling cloud.
Your broad sweeping generalizations reflect perhaps a segment of people that most of us don't know or experience here and one has to ask why you do?
I think most people here and who know Springfield would find your review completely alien and foreign to their experiences and reality of facts.
I recommend L.A. for you too!! Paradise!
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Old 02-13-2007, 10:20 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati
1,749 posts, read 8,315,055 times
Reputation: 784
I knew I'd get flamed. The person asking the question is a Californian and so am I. That's the only reason I responded. My response is merely my experience and POV as someone coming from California. No disrespect for anyone living there. If you noticed, I listed good things about your area as well, including some very nice people I met.
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Old 02-13-2007, 10:34 AM
 
Location: Springfield, Missouri
2,815 posts, read 12,957,638 times
Reputation: 2000001497
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sorcerer68 View Post
I knew I'd get flamed. The person asking the question is a Californian and so am I. That's the only reason I responded. My response is merely my experience and POV as someone coming from California. No disrespect for anyone living there. If you noticed, I listed good things about your area as well, including some very nice people I met.
I'm also a Californian and I think your review is completely unrealistic and foreign to the reality of the Springfield area.
Much of the things you said are simply patently untrue - about chiggers, weather comparisons, education, etc.
You also made sweeping statements you can't possibly back with facts or point to any documentation that backs you up, such as saying that "lots of adults spell Arkansas with a "w"... I had to laugh when I read that. What did you do, canvas Springfield and knock on doors and say: "Please write how you think the word "Arkansas" is spelled"... Patently ridiculous statement that further erodes your credibility as a critic.
How do you determine that personal hygiene here is bad ...and "rampant" anyway? Do you sit at the entrance to the Battlefield Mall and ask each person entering to drop their drawers for an inspection and lift their arms for a sniff test?
...retarded statements with no basis in reality. It makes you look like a fool for even thinking anyone could suspend common sense long enough to believe determining these "facts" is even possible!!! Don't you see how ridiculous your statements are?
It would be like me moving to Los Angeles (which I am fairly familiar with) for nine months and saying:
It's full of gangs. You can't go anywhere without being in danger of being robbed and/or shot.
There's little cultural diversity now. It's all illegal aliens and no one speaks English anymore.
The smog and pollution is so bad that most people die young.
Earthquakes are "rampant" and you have to wonder if you go to sleep at night if you'll wake up in the morning.
Everyone is in the movies or television.

Are these things true about Los Angeles? Hardly. Yet as ridiculous as my statements generalizing L.A. are, your's on Springfield ring just as hollow and your comments are easily dismissed as simply untrue, exaggerated, not first hand knowledge or experience in some cases, and speculation.
It's not a charming characteristic.
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Old 02-13-2007, 11:22 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati
1,749 posts, read 8,315,055 times
Reputation: 784
Ahhhh...I knew I shouldn't have done this.
Regarding chiggers, I was misinformed as to how they do what they do but was definitely on the recieving end. Yikes. I never seemed to escape them unless I stayed inside or on pavement. Maybe I'm special and they sought me out. With ticks, I tried many ways to remove them, I was told by natives to twist and by others to burn their backsides with a lit cigarette. Still, the heads sometimes stay lodged in no matter what you do. I guess they smelled fresh meat. I have a gift to remember my time in Missouri, a tick head lodged in my *******. Believe me, I tried to remove the tick as delicately as possible.

I was still in school when I did my informal "Arkansaw" poll. I merely asked a random sampling of a bunch of adults to spell the state to the south and was quite surprised at my results. I was prompted to do this by a written sign I saw for some sort of produce (I don't remember what kind) and it said it was from "Arkansaw". There was another adjacent sign that said "apple's" but I thought the former was more interesting.

Regarding snakes, I lived in West Texas when I was little. Missouri has more. I lived in Florida. It has more snakes than Missouri. I'm not unreasonably afraid of them, I've owned 2 6-foot Boa Constrictors. I just don't want to be bitten and die and some are deathly afraid of them so I thought I'd mention it.

Regarding tornados, I wasn't bashing them, like I said, I think they are cool. I mentioned it as it's a valid concern. I'm not afraid of earthquakes, hurricanes or volcanic eruptions either...and I've lived in areas where each of them were a concern.

The lack of dental care and poor personal hygene were a reference to many of my classmates and parents when I visited their homes. Most of these individuals were of very limited means. To suggest that all people in your area were toothless and smelly would be ludicrous and I didn't. In Southern Missouri I encountered some of the poorest and least educated people I've seen save my few months in rural Colombia.

Regarding illiteracy, I met quite a few adults who genuinely couldn't read. I never said all people in Southern Missouri were illiterate. I'd never encountered this before and it was disturbing. In this regard, water seeks it's own level. Maybe you don't travel in the same circles as many of the people I met.

As to my statement about meeting many people who had not traveled outside their area and had limited knowledge about many things, that was my experience. There was definite culture shock. I also saw it in the faces of my family.

Your meth problem is far worse than you realise. I had a long conversation with the brother of an old family friend who got out of prison and turned his life around. He told me of the extent of how much meth is cooked in Springfield and told me it's the meth capital of Missouri. He has nothing against your town, I merely inquired as I'm always curious since I used to work as a Chemical Dependency Counselor. He's possibly returning. Don't worry, he's reformed. I've spoken to others but I consider this man a reliable source. Where I live now in Hawaii, the problem has gone through the roof as it has in many areas. Your city is the meth manufacturing hub for 4 states, according to this man and some others with which I've spoken.

Regarding weather, Springfield is hotter. Check your stats. Just slightly by temperature but it's muggier than KC.

One thing I left out of my original post which I realise was a glaring omission and I apologise is that I left your area years ago. Perhaps there's been a dramatic change since then. This I should have included in my post and for that I apologise. A lot can happen in several years. If Springfield now has mostly educated people, culture and what have you, I'm thrilled.

My intention wasn't to bash your city, just to relay my experience. I assure you it was firsthand and I've described it as accurately as possible. Notice I mentioned before how nice the people were and some other positive things I mentioned. The OP will ultimately do whatever they want. Nowhere in my post did I ever say "none" or "all". I would never do that.

My sincerest blessings and apologies to whomever I may have offended. I'll stay off your forum.

Last edited by Sorcerer68; 02-13-2007 at 11:48 AM..
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Old 02-13-2007, 12:02 PM
 
Location: Springfield, Missouri
2,815 posts, read 12,957,638 times
Reputation: 2000001497
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sorcerer68 View Post
Ahhhh...I knew I shouldn't have done this.
Regarding chiggers, I was misinformed as to how they do what they do but was definitely on the recieving end. Yikes. I never seemed to escape them unless I stayed inside or on pavement. Maybe I'm special and they sought me out. With ticks, I tried many ways to remove them, I was told by natives to twist and by others to burn their backsides with a lit cigarette. Still, the heads sometimes stay lodged in no matter what you do. I guess they smelled fresh meat. I have a gift to remember my time in Missouri, a tick head lodged in my *******. Believe me, I tried to remove the tick as delicately as possible.

I was still in school when I did my informal "Arkansaw" poll. I merely asked a random sampling of a bunch of adults to spell the state to the south and was quite surprised at my results. I was prompted to do this by a written sign I saw for some sort of produce (I don't remember what kind) and it said it was from "Arkansaw". There was another adjacent sign that said "apple's" but I thought the former was more interesting.

Regarding snakes, I lived in West Texas when I was little. Missouri has more. I lived in Florida. It has more snakes than Missouri. I'm not unreasonably afraid of them, I've owned 2 6-foot Boa Constrictors. I just don't want to be bitten and die and some are deathly afraid of them so I thought I'd mention it.

Regarding tornados, I wasn't bashing them, like I said, I think they are cool. I mentioned it as it's a valid concern. I'm not afraid of earthquakes, hurricanes or volcanic eruptions either...and I've lived in areas where each of them were a concern.

The lack of dental care and poor personal hygene were a reference to many of my classmates and parents when I visited their homes. Most of these individuals were of very limited means. To suggest that all people in your area were toothless and smelly would be ludicrous and I didn't. In Southern Missouri I encountered some of the poorest and least educated people I've seen save my few months in rural Colombia.

Regarding illiteracy, I met quite a few adults who genuinely couldn't read. I never said all people in Southern Missouri were illiterate. I'd never encountered this before and it was disturbing. In this regard, water seeks it's own level. Maybe you don't travel in the same circles as many of the people I met.

As to my statement about meeting many people who had not traveled outside their area and had limited knowledge about many things, that was my experience. There was definite culture shock. I also saw it in the faces of my family.

Your meth problem is far worse than you realise. I had a long conversation with the brother of an old family friend who got out of prison and turned his life around. He told me of the extent of how much meth is cooked in Springfield and told me it's the meth capital of Missouri. He has nothing against your town, I merely inquired as I'm always curious since I used to work as a Chemical Dependency Counselor. He's possibly returning. Don't worry, he's reformed. I've spoken to others but I consider this man a reliable source. Where I live now in Hawaii, the problem has gone through the roof as it has in many areas. Your city is the meth manufacturing hub for 4 states, according to this man and some others with which I've spoken.

Regarding weather, Springfield is hotter. Check your stats. Just slightly by temperature but it's muggier than KC.

One thing I left out of my original post which I realise was a glaring omission and I apologise is that I left your area years ago. Perhaps there's been a dramatic change since then. This I should have included in my post and for that I apologise. A lot can happen in several years. If Springfield now has mostly educated people, culture and what have you, I'm thrilled.

My intention wasn't to bash your city, just to relay my experience. I assure you it was firsthand and I've described it as accurately as possible. Notice I mentioned before how nice the people were and some other positive things I mentioned. The OP will ultimately do whatever they want. Nowhere in my post did I ever say "none" or "all". I would never do that.

My sincerest blessings and apologies to whomever I may have offended. I'll stay off your forum.
Actually, just an fyi...I did check my facts, available actually here on this site on the homepage. Kansas City is hotter as I said. You can go and look at the charts conveniently located on this site yourself.
Also, as you've outlined where your statements come from, it's clear that most are anecdotal or singular encounters that you projected into a broad generalization.
I'm not trying to skewer you. But I am pointing out that you should have seen this coming as one can't post such exaggerations and not expect people to see that it doesn't square with reality or factual data.
That's all
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Old 02-13-2007, 12:09 PM
 
Location: New Orleans, LA
1,843 posts, read 3,919,959 times
Reputation: 3366
Wow! After reading that, I have to admit that I'd hate to see what Sorcerer68 might say about New Orleans right now!

I've got to admit (as we've said before) that everybody is entitled to his or her opinion, and every locations has its advantages and disadvantages. I guess Sorcerer68 doesn't like Springfield. That's OK! Hard for me to understand, but OK.

Embarrassingly enough, I confess that I really, really, REALLY despised living in San Diego, and there aren't many people that would agree with me on that one, either. On the other hand, I'm not likely to be posting my opinion of that city on the San Diego forum.
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Old 02-13-2007, 03:07 PM
 
1,174 posts, read 6,924,065 times
Reputation: 1104
This an example of why I'm leaving California, specifically the general Los Angeles area. Even spending most of my working years in the L.A. area, I would still never, ever, under any circumstances, live within the city limits of Los Angeles. It wasn't a place for me then, and it's certainly not a place for me now for a variety of reasons.

I'm sure that it's nirvana for the recent poster, so I hope they enjoy it. I know they will be very happy with what it has become. Maybe they will help it continue down its current patch towards . . . whatever it's becomming.
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Old 02-13-2007, 06:15 PM
 
Location: Springfield MO for now :(
393 posts, read 1,730,789 times
Reputation: 268
Wink summer heat

Pardon me, but Ozark - the summers in Florida are not hotter than here. They are most definitely longer, and that sometimes make them seem hotter, but in comparing actual temps to temps you will find it is not hotter in FL. It pretty much stays between 92-95 for several consecutive months with no relief, but it seldom gets to the century mark as it does do here.
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Old 02-13-2007, 06:20 PM
 
Location: Springfield MO for now :(
393 posts, read 1,730,789 times
Reputation: 268
Wink Pardon me again

Excuse me again. I guess you probably meant overall summer heat and humidity combined, and then, yes FL has more length of time of heat and humidity overall than MO. Sorry for the misreading. As an aside, you do get used to it and adjust accordingly.
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