LOVE : HATE

Dear "Angry Tourist," You misunderstand much about the South.... True Southerners Are Polite and Hospitable - we learned these things very early in life. However, we also learned to defend ourselves.
We know and appreciate that Tourist dollars help keep afloat our economy - it has for Many years, not just 'in these tough times!' But, angry tourist, did you ever ONCE stop to think, as you snobbishly shopped and snubbed your way through our beautiful city, that each person you encountered works long, hard hours for very little money to give you those 'big bargains' you had to have - in that baking hot sun that you 'just loved soaking up?' Did you ever even look them in the eyes and acknowledge them as human beings? As other hard-working, deserving, people, worthy of Your hospitality and appreciation? Another point: Not everyone who now lives here is a "True Southerner...
transplants 'not from around here' move in, become 'new locals with bad attitudes,' etc. Then there are a new breed of "Your kind" here... and we just don't need any more like that... so when we encounter customers/tourists like YOU, apparently... you just picked our last straw..... and yes, we would just like Your Kind to go back where you came from.... we'd really rather just sit back in the shade and sip a little spiked lemonade and listen to some beach music than to have to hear you roar into town in Bitch mode with money to burn as you find things to complain about... stay home and bitch... we'll do just fine with the nicer tourists who appreciate Beauty and Serenity when they see it. Oh, and about Christianity... many people hide behind that title, few truly follow their own Golden Rule.... now, do they?

This love hate pitch is a rip off, but none the less, I'll bite.

When we say "go back to where you came from" we are not referring to weekend tourists. We may scoff at tourists for creating traffic and being the reason that downtown's prices are inflated, but we are not asking YOU to go home. We are referring to the transplants that have made Charleston their new home and want us to adapt to their culture (or lack there of). We appreciate the money that tourists spend and we also recognize that tourists do have a respect for the beauty of our fair city...which is why they chose here to vacation. We just don't like it when the chose to stay permanently.

Chose to vacation here would work a lot more Craig...

Flat Rock, NC is also under seige from those who want to save us from ourselves.

Craig is right... as a transplant I've accepted the area for what it is. I like the weather, I like the neighborly attitude, I love how into college football people are. Even as a transplant, it irritates me significantly to hear people complain about the culture and cooking and what makes the south the south. Schools, well that's a different ball of wax, but even the locals know the schools need a ton of work.

So, to all my fellow transplants, take it from me: if it was so nice back in the rust belt, snow belt, or rainy, cloudy New England... you wouldn't have left. To all the natives: trust me you have no idea what bad traffic is. Imagine every other road being as bad as I-26/526 every day for four hours every morning and every afternoon, including weekends. We've got it easy around here.

If my memory is correct America belongs to all Americans. We can go wherever whenever we want. If you want to claim any region as "yours" that region ends at whatever the distance from your mind to your aura is. Otherwise shut the hell up.

Wrong-O Ethan. South Carolina belongs to the people of South Carolina via something called the Constitution. Same goes with each of the 49 remaining states.

Craig:

What is your definition of "people of S.C."? Born and raised, or live here, because let me tell you; I am a transplant, have a SC license, pay S.C. taxes, vote S.C., and work in S.C. Am I S.C.?

I'd venture to say I am, regardless of what my birth certificate says. Last time I checked, I did not need a passport to cross into or from S.C. I didn't need to apply for a permit to work here. I just got tired of the cold weather, and moved south. That simple.

Those are federal laws that provide those freedoms, not Columbia.

Transplants, gotta love them. After all every transplant you meet should remind you of how wonderful and comforting your (our) beautiful city is.

We did make a choice to move here. should say somrthing about our character and taste

Easy on the anger Eric. Living, working, paying taxes, and voting pretty much makes you a card carrying member of this state. If in doing these things, you have the passion to care about South Carolina, then my opinion would be that you are officially a South Carolinian...because you choose to be.

I don't know what axe Ethan is trying to grind, but someone living and working in another state does not have the same rights as those who live and work in this state.

The federal constitution has defined laws regarding interstate commerce, but make no mistake, each state has the authority to regulate it's own state...even if it chooses not to do so (which is a conversation for another day).

No matter where you go, there you are.

Everyone in an area puts up with outsiders/new transplants, and everyone to a new area puts up with locals/natives. It is the same attitude everywhere, believe me, I've moved a lot in US... bad traffic, bad schools, bad manners. Its what you make of it that counts.

You reap what you sow, I guess. I'm a transplant myself. I moved here not just for the climate, the beach, the fishing, the food, the history, and all the things that make this such a great place to live, but also because the people are laid-back, friendly, courteous and ready to give you a helping hand if and when you need it. I hate to make generalities, but those characteristics are not prevalent in the Northeast where I was born and spent much of my life. While I am not from here, or even from the South, I am more at home here than anywhere else I have lived. I did not come here to change anything; this place changed me. There will always be those who hate "damned Yankees," and maybe they have legitimate reasons. Similarly, there will always be transplants who feel snubbed by the "natives." Instead of speaking in absolutes as some people in this thread are doing, it would really help if those who have moved here would try harder to assimilate, be less judgmental, and remember what you came here for. On the flip side, those that are from here should realize that when you have a good product, everybody wants some of it; obviously, something more than a benign climate and less traffic attracted these newbies. There's a lot to be said for regional identity and preserving the things that make a place unique. As a nation, we become more homogenous each day and we lose our sense of place. In truth, most people who move here are not trying to foist their alien culture on those who have lived here all their lives, just as the preponderance of native South Carolinians are not engaged in secret cabals to drive out all of the "carpetbaggers." The reality is, we all live here and, more importantly, have a right to live here. We all have to coexist; neither side is likely to get up and leave anytime soon. I know this a love/hate column, but less hate would be a lot more productive.

You ever heard of anybody retiring and moving up north? I guess that pretty much sums it up huh? SC is the best, Georgia is ok, Florida sucks because there is nothing there (people wise) except old people and tourists. lmao. True tho.

do the people of the old school of Charleston find offense to the name 'Chucktown'?

You shoulda seen it in the 70's, picture perfect!