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You can dish it but you can't take it. Ignore the facts and national rankings, you're too concerned with technicalities to engage in anything worthwhile.
This thread is about Mississippi and what's wrong with the state. Some user feels that nothing is wrong with the state. There is something wrong with every state but to sit here and say there is nothing wrong with the sip is ignorant. Louisiana is far from the best state when it comes to lists and polls but we far much much better than all of Mississippi just within Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. These cities are actually gaining population, businesses, innovation, expansion, and opportunities compared to Mississippi's cities. Of course there are places in the state that are fairing well but nothing compared to south Louisiana.
I did find your post interesting Grandview Gloria. I did wonder who in Mississippi would choose to walk in darkness rather than light. I understand fate and genetics play in it. But those people don't really choose it.
As far as overweight people, I live in western Iowa and ya hardly ever see anyone not significantly overweight. Same applies to eastern Nebraska. Though those states are not ranked as high, there is often a miniscule percentage between the states. Its a nationwide problem.
I keep hearing how bad Mississippi is, lots of poverty, obesity, bad education, bad race relations, swampy, humid, not much to do, but how true is all this?
I've never been to Mississippi I admit it but I looked on Google Maps and other photos of some of the Gulf Coastal areas and they don't look too bad. Beaches seem to be nice and some of the towns like Biloxi have some great entertainment. Casinos, Hard Rock Cafe, and other amusement like a small-scale Las Vegas.
Really now, how bad can it be? Is race still a problem? Nobody is segregated or forced to eat at separate counters or move to the back of the bus like it used to be in the south.
How about the poverty? Is it really so horrible? After that last recession you won't find too many people livng high and mighty anywhere. If you want to see poverty go to Detroit and some old east coast cities where the industry is all but gone. How bad are conditions in Mississippi? It can't be anything like the old sharecropper shacks, or the old stereotype of fat suspender-wearing hicks driving beat-up trucks can it?
How about bugs, snakes, or alligators? The media makes it look like Mississippi is a bug-infested wasteland with snakes and gators living in swamps in everybody's yard. Can't be all true now can it?
I just need some reassurance that Mississippi isn't the Hell pit it's made out to be. I have a hard time believing what I read or see on T.V.
While I'm not a native of Mississpi, I did live there for 5 years. My friends always joke about how I went to the most obese, least educated, poorest state and came back north 70 lbs lighter, more educated, and wealthier than ever LOL!
One thing that must be pointed out is that there is a night and day difference between two cities in MS. Biloxi for example is nothing like Baxterville. Gulfport is nothing like Jackson, which is nothing like Oxford, which is nothing like Pascagola.
For example, if you own a doublewide trailer and a truck newer than 2007, you are slim pickings for the women and they will treat you like the king of the world in a city like Baxterville! Try that in Biloxi, you would be laughed out of town.
Someplaces people talk like they have a peice of **** rolling around in their mouth. Other places you can understand every word without an issue. Again, it depends on where you are at.
Different areas are more racially divided than others. I actually had a black fellow argue with me that I wasn't white, but rather "Europian" because I could play basketball and no way in hell could any white boy be good at basketall in the state of MS LOL! Last I checked, I was born in USA, not Europe....
Some cities are more infested with insects that others. I found only one roach in my apartment the entire time I lived there. I saw only 1 snake outdoors.
Fat suspender-wearing hicks driving beat-up trucks? I've seen plenty of those. In fact, the vehicle of choice for a MS road race enthusiast is an LS1 camaro or a fox body mustang because they are the cheapest to build and parts are plentiful down there. Make no mistake however, you will see people driving brand new cars like Escalades and watch them pay for their grocieries using and EBT card. You will also see doctors, lawyers, or professors drivng the same class of cars, and paying for their groceris with hard earned money. Ofcourse some of their wives were getting banged by the head trainer at the local gym (true story) but that's a different issue altogether....
Poverty in the Delta is way worse than any part of Detriot.
With all that said, there are plenty of nice suburb housing developments that are no different than any other that you would find in any other states with the same commerical shopping areas.
Stay out of the casinos if you take too much money from them. They don't like that especially if repeat trips results in them not winning anything back from you LOL!
Status:
"Listening. Always listening"
(set 6 days ago)
Location: NE Mississippi
24,366 posts, read 15,889,116 times
Reputation: 35535
I'd never heard of Baxterville. So I looked it up.
Some of what I found was pretty simple:
Quote:
Baxterville, MS is a rural community in Lamar County; southwest of Hattiesburg, MS. It is home to a community baseball field and Baxterville School, a public school which services less than 340 students in kindergarten to 8th grade. The community also is location to several churches and the Country One Stop gas station which features weekday lunch specials and pizza.
And some of what I learned is just fascinating:
Quote:
At 10:00 a.m. on October 22, 1964, the United States government detonated an underground nuclear device in Lamar County, in south Mississippi....... selected a site just north of Baxterville in Lamar County, about 28 miles southwest of Hattiesburg. Geologically, the area was called the Tatum Salt Dome, a vast supply of dense salt located about 1,000 feet below ground level........
The article goes on to describe damage, aftereffects, reaction, followup, and so forth. Frankly, some of it is funny. Shook the livin' daylights outa that little town!
While I'm not a native of Mississpi, I did live there for 5 years. My friends always joke about how I went to the most obese, least educated, poorest state and came back north 70 lbs lighter, more educated, and wealthier than ever LOL!
One thing that must be pointed out is that there is a night and day difference between two cities in MS. Biloxi for example is nothing like Baxterville. Gulfport is nothing like Jackson, which is nothing like Oxford, which is nothing like Pascagola.
For example, if you own a doublewide trailer and a truck newer than 2007, you are slim pickings for the women and they will treat you like the king of the world in a city like Baxterville! Try that in Biloxi, you would be laughed out of town.
Someplaces people talk like they have a peice of **** rolling around in their mouth. Other places you can understand every word without an issue. Again, it depends on where you are at.
Different areas are more racially divided than others. I actually had a black fellow argue with me that I wasn't white, but rather "Europian" because I could play basketball and no way in hell could any white boy be good at basketall in the state of MS LOL! Last I checked, I was born in USA, not Europe....
Some cities are more infested with insects that others. I found only one roach in my apartment the entire time I lived there. I saw only 1 snake outdoors.
Fat suspender-wearing hicks driving beat-up trucks? I've seen plenty of those. In fact, the vehicle of choice for a MS road race enthusiast is an LS1 camaro or a fox body mustang because they are the cheapest to build and parts are plentiful down there. Make no mistake however, you will see people driving brand new cars like Escalades and watch them pay for their grocieries using and EBT card. You will also see doctors, lawyers, or professors drivng the same class of cars, and paying for their groceris with hard earned money. Ofcourse some of their wives were getting banged by the head trainer at the local gym (true story) but that's a different issue altogether....
Poverty in the Delta is way worse than any part of Detriot.
With all that said, there are plenty of nice suburb housing developments that are no different than any other that you would find in any other states with the same commerical shopping areas.
Stay out of the casinos if you take too much money from them. They don't like that especially if repeat trips results in them not winning anything back from you LOL!
^ Summed it up nicely.
I live in Mississippi, but I was not born and raised here. All the people I know here have all of their teeth, most drive cars less than 5 years old, they have the latest cell phones, 4G LTE is available through AT&T and Verizon here, so it's not a dead zone, the city I live in gives all graduates of the city a tuition free ride to the local community college, a pretty progressive move, there are subdivisions with nice 2 story houses inside the city and outside the city, we have a shopping mall with most of your common stores.
Doesn't sound too much different from the rest of the United States, does it? Because on the outside, it really isn't.
Most noticeable differences are these.
-Hunting, mudding, fishing, camping are all very popular here. Men AND women will walk around in hunting gear with a cammo hat or a cammo shirt on, even when going out to dinner.
-Big trucks with big tires big lift kits and loud exhausts are very common here. Are they the old 1980's pickup trucks? Actually no. A lot of the rednecks around here have relatively new trucks, less than 5 years old.
-The accents are thick. Educated people will have a twang, but you can still understand them. Country people, or the ones with a very lacking educational background are increasingly difficult to understand.
-Fashion and style is about 5 years behind most of the country, and 10 years behind California. Also, the middle income women of Mississippi think it's fashionable to wear gym clothes while they're out shopping. Can't tell you how many times I see women in gym shorts and running shoes while I'm going through the grocery store.
-Politics are racially divided. If you're white you're probably republican, if you're black you're probably democrat.
-There are a lot of churches. Mississippi has more churches per capita than any other state. If you're not a part of a church you're not a part of the town. People will often view you as an outsider and in a lot of cases distrust you.
-Most roads are paved, there are a few dirt roads. What's common is for people who live in the country to have dirt driveways. Because of this a lot of cars will have red dirt on the side of their cars, (clay).
The Delta is what drags down the rest of Mississippi. Were it not for the Delta Mississippi wouldn't be any different from Alabama or Georgia, minus their big cities. The Mississippi coast is beautiful and doesn't feel southern at all. You'd think you were in the Florida panhandle, were it not for all the casinos there.
Maxmodder summed it up pretty well, but there is another contrast I would like to point out.
In the town in which I live, Senatobia, alcohol only recently came to town. April 5th to be exact.
There was a vote, and the people of Senatobia voted to sell alcohol in the city limits, however, some people are still opposed to it. In 2 of the service stations in town the cashiers openly showed their disapproval, and one of them actually stated "I didn't think I would ever see this mess in Senatobia".... but just 21 miles south, in Batesville you can buy it on Sunday.
Even small towns in Mississippi can be drastically different, especially on certain issues.
People finally realized that not selling alcohol didn't actually keep alcohol out of town because whoever wanted it would just drive 10 minutes to the county line to get it, and we were losing tax revenue not only on alcohol but on restaurants that would not locate here.
The Delta is what drags down the rest of Mississippi. Were it not for the Delta Mississippi wouldn't be any different from Alabama or Georgia, minus their big cities. The Mississippi coast is beautiful and doesn't feel southern at all. You'd think you were in the Florida panhandle, were it not for all the casinos there.
Do you, or anyone else for that matter, have any facts to back up your comment about the Delta? While I concur that the Delta is likely last in most categories. I have a hard time beleiving other part of the state, with a few exceptions, are that much far ahead of the Delta.
Comparing Miss to GA or AL minus their big cities is, IMO, no compliment to MS. Those big cities are evidence that large amounts of people and businesses desire to live do business in that state. Pointing out that Miss lack this is not a complimentary assesment of Miss, IMO.
Totally agree with you saying the coast doesn't feel southern at all and is more like Florida.
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