The trip to Costco yesterday was unusually stressful. First there was a backup on I-75 caused by what appeared to be the end of a police chase: two black cars surrounded by 8 state patrol vehicles and troopers with guns drawn. Then, less than a mile later, another backup caused by a single-car accident. It appeared that a car spun out and landed in the median strip (how does that happen in the absence of ice?). Finally, two ambulances blew by me as I was turning into the Costco parking lot.
Which was completely filled. Cars were cruising, looking for people leaving. I was at Costco before Christmas and this was *much* worse.
I had to return some items so I got into the long returns line. Directly behind a guy who was loudly telling anyone who would listen that he was “feeling the stress” caused by the “northerners”. I couldn’t disagree, because I just experienced some of what he was talking about, but, being Florida, I was a bit concerned that he would pull out a .45 and start plugging anyone who didn’t have a deep tan. And he would probably get away with it under Florida’s horrible “stand your ground” law which appears to give anyone with a weapon the right to use it anytime you feel a bit threatened. This guy was apparently feeling a lot of stress, which a jury could construe as being life-threatening. Then it would be open season on snowbirds.
This rather uncomfortable experience gave me cause to reflect on the tension – real and figurative – that snowbirds bring to southwest Florida. The economy here is totally dependent on the snowbirds. But the infrastructure needed to support their 3-month residency – highways, police and fire, to name a few – is huge and is largely unused the other 9 months of the year. Schools aren’t affected much, but everything else has to be built to a scale that is larger than would be needed if there were no winter visitors. Even shopping centers and recreational facilities (e.g., casinos) need to hire for the “season”, then lay off workers when it is over.
It must be very hard to balance all of this, which makes me glad I don’t have to deal with it year-round. But I hope they continue to manage it tolerably well so that guys like the one I ran into at Costco don’t start shooting.
Snowbird stress
The trip to Costco yesterday was unusually stressful. First there was a backup on I-75 caused by what appeared to be the end of a police chase: two black cars surrounded by 8 state patrol vehicles and troopers with guns drawn. Then, less than a mile later, another backup caused by a single-car accident. It appeared that a car spun out and landed in the median strip (how does that happen in the absence of ice?). Finally, two ambulances blew by me as I was turning into the Costco parking lot.
Which was completely filled. Cars were cruising, looking for people leaving. I was at Costco before Christmas and this was *much* worse.
I had to return some items so I got into the long returns line. Directly behind a guy who was loudly telling anyone who would listen that he was “feeling the stress” caused by the “northerners”. I couldn’t disagree, because I just experienced some of what he was talking about, but, being Florida, I was a bit concerned that he would pull out a .45 and start plugging anyone who didn’t have a deep tan. And he would probably get away with it under Florida’s horrible “stand your ground” law which appears to give anyone with a weapon the right to use it anytime you feel a bit threatened. This guy was apparently feeling a lot of stress, which a jury could construe as being life-threatening. Then it would be open season on snowbirds.
This rather uncomfortable experience gave me cause to reflect on the tension – real and figurative – that snowbirds bring to southwest Florida. The economy here is totally dependent on the snowbirds. But the infrastructure needed to support their 3-month residency – highways, police and fire, to name a few – is huge and is largely unused the other 9 months of the year. Schools aren’t affected much, but everything else has to be built to a scale that is larger than would be needed if there were no winter visitors. Even shopping centers and recreational facilities (e.g., casinos) need to hire for the “season”, then lay off workers when it is over.
It must be very hard to balance all of this, which makes me glad I don’t have to deal with it year-round. But I hope they continue to manage it tolerably well so that guys like the one I ran into at Costco don’t start shooting.
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