tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223398383609158624.post5334585511195564949..comments2024-02-24T00:37:43.087-05:00Comments on The Other McCain: Tito Perdue, literary geniusRobert Stacy McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084541621503669804noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223398383609158624.post-83641930115897543042009-04-17T23:21:00.000-04:002009-04-17T23:21:00.000-04:00Heh. I'm an Alabamian who has worked for 30 years ...Heh. I'm an Alabamian who has worked for 30 years in a profession which brings me in contact with a great many other professionals who have been transferred to Alabama from many of the country's largest cities and most urbanized states. And I've often had occasion to speak with them about their experiences in Alabama vis a' vis their expectations upon learning they would be moving here. I suppose I've spoken with perhaps 200 of these professionals, men and women, about what they have found here. <br /><br />Without exception - I mean literally without exception - each and every person who had not already lived in Alabama or had close family members living in the state, were disappointed to learn they had been transferred to such a benighted, racist, backwoods hole as Alabama. <br /><br />But the same persons who were unhappy to be transferred to the state said that after they got here they were overjoyed when they learned the truth. Several completely changed their career and living plans just to stay in Alabama, and have even retired in their adopted home. <br /><br />They told me what surprised them most about Alabama. For the most part they knew about the natural beauty and the huge natural areas throughout the state. They loved the low cost of living which enabled them to pay only $300,000 or even less for houses which would have cost them seven figures in New Jersey, Washington, D.C. or California. They were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the schools and the commitment of the teachers. They were stunned to find extremely diverse populations, particularly in the professions, who lived in a tolerant and comfortable harmony which many said they had experienced nowhere else in the United States. In general they found they were surrounded by happy, polite, self-reliant, friendly and kind people. <br /><br />Yes, the never-ending display of photos and clips of firehoses, police dogs and smoldering church ruins has been the heavy price Alabama has paid for allowing racists to hold the reins of power until the mid-60's. But in a way it has worked to Alabama's great benefit, because we had to change, and did; but few outside the South know it. <br /><br />And that's actually okay with us. We saw what happened to Atlanta, which wanted so desperately to be just like the major metropolitan areas of the Northeast: they got their wish. Atlanta was a cautionary tale to us, and although we have a surprising number of manufacturing centers for perhaps a score of major multinationals such as Honda and Mercedes-Benz, we more or less have kept our business to ourselves. <br /><br />So I guess we shouldn't be taken aback when 40 years after the state began transforming itself, visitors are very pleasantly surprised when they spend some time with us. We think it's a pretty good deal.Jumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010872199201417401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4223398383609158624.post-58005431045476820692009-04-17T12:22:00.000-04:002009-04-17T12:22:00.000-04:00Tell him to go write science fiction and/or fantas...Tell him to go write science fiction and/or fantasy. Hell, that's where all our lyric poets went, too.Moe Lanehttp://www.moelane.comnoreply@blogger.com