Living in a Red State

Regardless of your Political views, have you had the opportunity to live in a mostly liberal vs. mostly conservative state?

I have.

I grew up in New York. Long Island to be exact.

I lived in North Georgia for three years.

I lived in Dallas, Texas for a total of five years.

I currently reside in Florida for a total of 12 years.

My following comments are based on my experience only.

Living in Georgia, Texas and now Florida my quality of life, based on what I earn, is easier.  The cost of living and the environment, in which I live, is better.  

This is a fact.  You could probably ask anyone.  

There is no State income taxes in Texas and Florida.  I truly appreciate this. Especially since I use to cringe seeing an additional city tax deducted from my paycheck, when I resided in New York City.  

Food and gas are cheaper.  I use to joke how Texas didn't experience a recession based on the cost of milk when I moved there the second time around.

The old gas station had .98 cent sign hanging for years.  I loved that sign.  

It was nice to pay only $2 vs $5 for a gallon milk.  

Liquid gold apparently.  

 

Things are newer, greener, brighter in those red states.  People smiled.  They are nicer, happier. 

Maybe this is only my perspective, but it is a reality.  

Why choose to live in misery with other miserable people?  

The thing is, before I left New York, I didn't know any better.  I thought one way was the only way.  

I lived in a New York bubble.  I only understood this once I left and experienced a different way of life. A new perspectives did me well. 

People carried guns.  This was a new reality for me.  It didn't bother me, but I was raised believing guns were bad.  

Only criminals carried guns (and police officers, of course) There were good guys and there were bad guys.  

That was it.  No gray area. Only Cowboys and Indians. ( 😉 )

Suddenly, guns were for hunting and protection and this was something I needed to comprehend.  I never once felt unsafe.  I did, however, educate myself. 

I dated a guy who grew up in Iowa for about five years after I busted from my New Year bubble.  His family exposed me to rural living, farming and introduced me to their cattle.  I didn't know what I didn't know.

What's a silo?

Wait, we can ride a combine?

An 'all terrain' vehicle does what?

I shot my first gun while visiting and learned you can still have a farm without milk cows.  I really wanted to milk a cow though.  Still never have.  

I did own chickens and a rooster when I lived in Georgia, as I digress.

The entire small town knew one another. More as if they were family.  It reminded me of my extended Italian New York family, but different.

I believe we all have a duty to help one another, especially when life gets difficult.  That's humanity.

Family is family.  
Even if it's made family.

What does it all mean?  

It makes no difference what you believe in, what religion you practice, who you support or how you earn you money.  It really doesn't even matter how much you earn or what part of the world you live in.  

We all have feelings. We all want to be cared for.  We all want to be loved and we all desire to feel safe.  

Most importantly, we want what's best for our family.  

We all want the same things.  

How we achieve these things is personal, but we ALL will find our way to the same destination.