My first house...$50,000, our first car...$8,000, my brand new bunk bed...$300, my special Fischer Price kitchen set...$20, my Barbie dreamboat...$50, living within a 6 mile radius of all your homes...priceless.
Holiday, what a weird word! Why would someone name a town Holiday? It’s sure no holiday to me! All there are, are some run-down and semi-nice houses, rinky- dink stores, and a few scattered places to eat. A small town, with small town people. Most don’t graduate high school and basically live here forever and get a job at the local Wal-Mart. Some aren’t like that though. Some people actually get out of here and do something important. Those are far and few, but still there are some...
I am a true blue Florida Cracker though. I was born here and have lived here, all in a vicinity of ten miles. The people have changed and so has the scenery. The places I have lived have been replaced many a time. Constant Disney and sunny beach commercials were abundant. But most people don’t understand that 5 yr. olds can’t drive therefore they can’t go to Disney every weekend. I probably only have gone a few times for special occasions.
In my area, there are the millions of malls and movie theatres. That’s basically ALL the perks I see in Florida. Other middle of no-where states must deal with driving two hours to get to a mall! In Florida, at least there’s plenty of stores to shop in and movies to see. Although the tourists can get annoying at times, raiding our malls and taking over our beaches! The insanity of it all! Everyone thinks Florida is the place to live. There’s non-stop parties and tans here are perfect. There are no parties unless you’re over 18 and the tans here end up in super duper skin cancer. Plus, there aren’t awesome places all around. Some of our towns are just as run down and not awesomely cool, as everyone believes. The only spots that give Florida its perfect reputation are Miami, Deltona, Tampa, and Daytona Beach. The other places in Florida, especially Holiday, are just normal and uninteresting.
Other than Holiday though, there is also where I live now, Tarpon Springs. It’s the largest Greek community in practically in the nation! Since there is an abundance of sponges here, Greeks who are expert spongers came here to make money. They have taken over and make this little community a very cultural and fun place. Those who grow up around them as I did learn their customs, some language, and music. Also in Tarpon, are the beautiful and old houses that have been challenged with a lot through the years by the rising waters in the lake. If you drove along the lake, you can see which houses are newer or not. Those that have no bottom and are just concrete are new and those that aren’t are very old.
Outside of the Historic Districts and Sponge Docks, there is the unofficially named East Lake area. This area is full of nice houses, malls, and movie theatres. The families who live here are wealthy and are quite different from the Holiday inhabitants. The people in East Lake expect you to know you won’t ever work at Wal-Mart and that you’ll get out of the town and go off to somewhere better. My neighborhood is ritzy looking and reflects how people of status must have everything around them of status as well. Although most in my community aren’t billionaires, they all are well off, unlike what Holiday offers. At times, this can be good. The billionaires don't question the importance of education and have support from their family. On the other hand, people who aren't as rich or blessed are grateful and work harder to prove something. My town and neighborhood are fine in the long run. The whole Florida being awesome thing is only semi-right. Florida is fun when you don’t have to see it everyday.
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