Dear South Carolina

Dear South Carolina –

You suck. You’re my neighbor to the south, and in theory we should be buddies, but the more I get to know you, the more I really don’t want people to associate us. Unfortunately we both have “Carolina in our names.” I had the honor of living in your greatest city for three months a few years ago, and it was downright wonderful. Beautiful palms trees, stylish old houses, miles and miles of shopping, and some of the best food this side of the Mississippi. One of my favorite home furnishings stores is there (Nancy Koltes), as is one of my favorite restaurants (Basil), and my favorite park (JI), but that isn’t enough to make up for all the terribleness that you, and your capital city, display. And to think I spend a good part of 2008 trying to find a job in your uber-conservative, crazy state. Thank you Lord Jesus for unanswered prayers (right Garth?!).

My general displeasure has been building up for awhile, but it came to a head last week when I read the following article on the WP website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/11/AR2009031104388.html

Read it. It probably won’t cause you to seethe like it did me, but still…..

While I’m not entirely sure the stimulus plan is going to have a discernible effect on the economy, I think not taking the money is the worst idea. Governor Sanford isn’t going to have too much luck playing hardball with the new President, and the only people who are going to get hurt in his political power play are the good people of South Carolina. The teachers, police officers, fast food workers, and apartment leasing agents are the ones who will suffer. Someone needs to tell him it’s too early to start running for President.

Do you all remember seeing the little girl sitting with Michelle Obama at the State of the Union address? The one who wrote the inspiring letter to the President asking him to include money in the stimulus plan for school improvements? She goes to a school in South Carolina that has a condemned auditorium, a gymnasium that leaks, and a campus full of trailers. Well if her governor has his way, her school still won’t get a dime.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/13/school.stimulus/index.html

The ordeal going on south of here also has a few heartwarming stories. Like that of Cheryl Davis, the caseworker who gave over a thousand dollars in her own money to a lady in need. It also makes those of us a little further north feel good about what we’re doing here. We received our first stimulus check last week and its going to go to remodeling our health center, putting people to work like carpenters, architects, and plumbers in the meantime, but will also put doctors, nurses, and CNAs to work in the long-term. And if you pay close attention to the NYT article, there’s a part that’s especially close to my heart. It tells the story of the woman who borrowed a car to go to the Department of Social Services to wait two and a half hours to try to get an appointment to see a Food Stamp worker. Well I happen to know someone who works at the Department of Social Services in North Carolina and the day the article came out, the wait time to see, no appointment needed, one of their Food Stamp workers was 9.46 minutes.

So to those of you who live down below……come on up!