Why cant us Yankees keep out of trouble when we move south?
 

I have seen this played out so many times in my life. Someone, anyone , tired of the weather here, and looking for a better life moves to Florida. Two years later they come back pregnant, addicted to drugs, and or running from the law.
One of my good friends in my early 20's moved to Jupiter, within two years , he was on the run from the law for trafficking cocaine. He ran for 10 years , and finally overdosed, and killed himself. He was a decent guy before he left, maybe smoked a little pot, and drank some, but by the time he came home, was a complete mess, and never recovered.
Today I am wrenching , and I look up to see a smokin' hot pair of legs, sorry, no pics. It is a girl I went to high school with. Probably in my top 20 list of attractive girls from my younger years. She has just moved back and needs some work done on her car. She tells me about her struggle with addiction, and how she is trying to get her life back in order. She looked like she crawled out of a dumpster, and I am pretty she would have done me for a hot sandwich, and a bottle of beer.
What gives ? Cant us yankees handle 365 days of sunshine? or are there just way more temptations in the great south?

The other common factor you're missing is that all of your examples were your friends or acquaintances. :D ;)

That's gotta hurt.

I wouldn't lay blame on the entire south. Florida has a pretty large cross section of dirtbags, and because of its proximity to the Caribbean, a long history of being a drug route.

They have a destination in mind but no place, really, to go. It's not Florida, it's them.

Obviously it's the individual, but Florida doesn't help. Florida has got to be the most drug friendly place I've ever spent any time in. I went to school in Tallahassee for a couple of years and the drug scene there is huge.

I have friends that came from Scranton, Lancaster & Pittsburgh and none of them did drugs down here or got in trouble with the law.

It's not Florida. It's the people who can't handle themselves.

These would probably be the same people who can't handle Vegas or Amsterdam.

+1 to Seahawk - very eloquently put.

I had a house/property in a Costa Rica beach community for 15 years, there sure were a lot of flakes around but I don't think any of them changed when they got there, they already were like that. I don't think the sun does it to them.
Just like in California, a lot of fruits and nuts have moved here but they were that way when they left home.

Because they go there on vacation, think it's paradise, fall in love with the idea of living there not realizing it still requires work.

Maybe he wasn't so decent before he left....

You Yanks also forget how to drive after you move down here.

Yes... easy money... but not legal money...

I'm a native Los Angeleno... the opportunity was there.

But I'm too purty to go to jail.

Yeah ...I only made through 25 years of living there. All that sun is tough to handle so I thought I would give it time. I'm an hour north of you now. Too expensive to live there anymore for a retiree.

Spot on Paul. Can we always count on you as the cool voice of knowledge?

Florida is a sunny place for shady people

Send her up here. Tell her I have a hot sandwich and a cold bottle of beer waiting.

We say the same thing down here in Florida "why do yankees with drug problems move down here?"

Seriously, a lot of people move from place to place since they feel they don't fit somewhere. Regretfully, some of these carry a lot of baggage. If that is the case, they will drop no matter where they go.

Actually we are only about 30 minutes apart.My shop is right off of Route 8, about 10 miles south of Butler, and I live in Valencia. If you ever get down this way feel free to stop in and shoot the schit.

I really can't make much of a comment on this thread. I have lots of buddies from the North and I don't think they get into much trouble down here. They speed like all the rest of us here and I value all their friendships. They DO all talk funny though!:D