lily34 wrote: 
...sometimes the best form of quick mediation in a dispute...eek!...emoticons!...

 Sean-E-Sean wrote: 
c'mere, you! i'll punch you right in the shnoz!! (if you didn't know me so well!)

 justin_thyme wrote: 
i really think she got it, which is why she said what she did. it wasn't personal. just a weird irony difference of opinion.

i think it's over now.

 

 justin_thyme wrote: 

...BWA!...keeeding...

 lily34 wrote: 
Sweet and loving, as always! You're always welcome to mediate as far as I'm concerned.  backatcha, my friend!

 lily34 wrote: 
yeah, what an O-hole that guy is. 

 Manbird wrote: 
i'm always on your side. remember, 485!

 lily34 wrote: 
can you come over and referee a fight between me and my room mate? but cheat a little so I win? 

 BillnDollarBaby wrote: 
Did you forget that I said I still live in Florida for four to six weeks a year? That I still have lots of friends and some family living there? I know perfectly well how people in Florida live.

And I never accused you, personally, of "ruining" Florida; as far as I'm concerned, it was ruined by other people — yes, some native Floiridians included — decades ago. And I neither said nor implied anything about your draining Florida's ecology or economy.

Sheesh, I just don't understand your reaction. But let's just agree to disagree and stop this bickering, okay? 

I wish you aloha.

i like you both and think you both are level-headed people with a difference of opinion that happens online sometimes when tone cannot be sensed. i don't see bdb getting her feathers in a big ruffle over this and i think justin, from your comment below, knows this and means just as well.
not that i needed to step in and officiate, but there you have it.
to all. 

 BillnDollarBaby wrote: 
Yes, I relocated to Hawaii to try to regain the beautiful kind of oceanfront environment I grew up in as a child.  In Florida, the riotous development and urbanization, AND the huge influx of northerners and midwesterners who had no regard for Florida's culture or environment, had compromised my quality of life there more than I was willing to tolerate.

But honestly, BDB, I meant nothing personal against you! Your relocation to Florida is decades after the oceanfront environmental battle was already lost (at least as far as I'm concerned). By the late 1970s the die was cast.

And now the spewing BP oil well in the deep Gulf is delivering the fateful coup de grace.  I weep for my once-beloved state.

 kid_charlemagne wrote: 
Edit: I should have started this out by saying, what does justin know about how we live here in Florida?  No one took him to task for that comment, just my pointing out the irony.  Which is kind of ironic when you think about it.

I haven't ruined Florida.  I'm getting mighty sick of people assuming because I started elsewhere that I am a drain on the ecology or economy of Florida.  I can't speak for others but for me, Florida is home has been for a long time and will always be so.  I am an environmentalist and work hard to keep my impact low.  I'm sure there are lots of natives who aren't environmentally friendly or took part in the ruination of the joint.  But, since we're only dealing in stereotypes and hate in this column now, I'll just slink my horrid Yankee ass of to a corner and cry.   I don't believe being a "native" Floridian, Hawaiian, Kentuckian, or whatever, makes one person better than another.  Is this what we've stooped to?  Inter-state bigotry.  Puhlease.

With my comment, I was trying to point out the irony of a transplant whining about other transplants, but as usual, people don't know the whole story before lashing out.

 cookinlover wrote: 
Actually, he was making rotten comments about non-native Floridians ruining the place, which I thought was ironic, since he relo-ed to Hawaii.  I was just pointing out the irony of his rather rude statement.  Next time I'll include the :ironic: smiley.

'scuse me while I go flog myself.

 BillnDollarBaby wrote: 
Out of line there, BDB. Be your nice self sometimes.

 BillnDollarBaby wrote: 
Do you ever stop being unpleasant?

 BillnDollarBaby wrote: 
What do you know about how justin has lived since he moved to Hawaii?

Hawaiians are accepting of newcomers, provided the newcomers respect them and their culture. Notice how quickly they transitioned from an advanced stone-age culture in the late 18th century (no metals available for mining) to a constitutional monarchy by the early 19th century, despite being ravaged by new infectious diseases that had reduced their population by more than half. Honolulu was the first city in the western hemisphere to have widespread electric lighting, and that was long before the United States deposed the Hawaiian monarchy.

That's a stark comparison with the conduct of Florida natives towards the pushy northerners and midwesterners who have despoiled Florida without so much as a "by your leave."

 BillnDollarBaby wrote: 
Not, actually. Within two years of my arrival I was adopted as a hanai son and brother by a large Hawaiian 'ohana (family). They treat me exactly as they do their blood relatives, and I treat them the same way. They have visited my family's home in Florida both when I've been there, and not — where they're welcomed as family. 18 mostly-Hawaiian little kids call me "uncle," and I remember each and every one of their birthdays (okay, Outlook Calendar helps!)  We have family luau and enjoy each others' company as often as possible.

And I have not done any despoiling, thank-you-very-much.  I'm an ardent environmentalist, I fight big-business efforts to expand tourism and additional hotel/resort development, I promote Hawaiian culture and values, I "live local" as much as possible, I have learned to speak both Hawaiian and pidgin at basic conversational levels, I can dance hula kahiku tolerably well, and my former wife (RIP) and I both volunteered as after-school tutors for disadvantaged children, many of whom were of Hawaiian ancestry. In short, I have loved and contributed to Hawaii and Hawaiians, and have been loved as supported by them in return.

 justin_thyme wrote: 


I'm sure the Hawaiians feel the same about you despoiling their state.

 justin_thyme wrote: 

Yep, yep! I had a very similar upbringing either on Folly Beach or the Ashley River; doing much the same things, eating the same food. I don't think Charleston has been ruined as bad as Florida, but it has been years since I lived there, that very well could be the case.

 sirdroseph wrote: 
When I was a kid growing up on Davis Islands, if the weather wasn't too stormy I would get to and from elementary school by taking a small boat solo from the dock of our waterfront home, cross the narrow stretch of Hillsborough Bay to Bayshore Boulevard, tie up the boat and collect my trusty bicycle that I kept at the dock (unlocked yet never stolen!), and pedal a few blocks to school.  Reverse process in the afternoon, sometimes stopping to throw the cast new (it lived in the boat) a few times if the mullet were popping.  Dad was an expert mullet-smoker (smoked mullet is delicious!) and Mom had dozens of other ways to prepare fresh fish.  The water was clean enough that we could safely harvest fresh oysters from just off of our seawall and eat them raw on the half-shell with a squeeze of key lime juice from our tree, and a dash of hot sauce or horseradish.  Stone crabs were aplenty — we'd take one claw, then throw them back to re-grow another.  Bottlenose dolphin, pelicans, blue herons and seagulls were our backyard companions.  It was an idyllic existence for a young kid.

Today, I'd never allow a child to travel to school as I did — and I wouldn't eat anything harvested from Hillsborough Bay, either, even cooked.  Urbanization, overdevelopment and pollution really have taken their toll on the once-lovely bay.