I woke this morning to an empty town, only a few cars on the road and blissful peace and quite. As they day went by, more and more of them started to appear. First the cars, then the accents and finally the "Yeah Tony, I'm down da shore for da weekend." The Bennies have arrived and for the next three months my beautiful town will be invaded by some of the nastiest, rudest and most disrespectful walks of life that you couldn't even imagine in your worst nightmares.
I love where I live. I don't think I would ever want to live anywhere else. I'm surrounded by both the ocean and the beautiful Barnaget Bay. I can hear the ocean at night and the pungent salt water smell drifts through my house. It is heaven. However, with that being said, there is nothing worse than being pushed out of your own town for three months. Obviously,many of our local businesses thrive on tourism and the summer crowd is what keeps a roof over their head but at what cost?
I guess my main problem is...Why do they treat our towns like a doormat and behave in ways they would never do when they are home. Would you walk in to your grocery store in bare feet when you're home? NO! So why do it here? How would you like it if I blocked your driveway just so I could park ten feet closer to the beach? So why do it? Some of the Bennies have absolutely no respect for the locals and each year it's getting worse and worse. I almost wish I could erase all the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day from the calendar. The other nine months out of the year is like living in a paradise very few people know about but like I said earlier, at what price? Three months of hell. I would like to add though, it's not all of our summer friends. There are quite a few people I am quite happy to see and it bums me out when they leave to go home in September.
So now I will leave you with this wonderful blog I recently found. BennyGoHome. And...we ask that you remember you are guests in our beach towns.
2 comments:
My grandmother has a house on the Eastern Shore of VA. We have been going there since 1986. I know in theory we are tourists there, but you wouldn't know it by looking at us.
But it makes me sad to see the way people treat the town and the wildlife refuge on the neighboring island. I can't go there in the summer anymore because I get so angry. Scott literally had to tell me to calm down last time we went down there during "the season." I don't come to your town and act like a jerk don't come to mine and act like a jerk.
I guess the whole point of this rambley comment is I can relate.
I envy you. We have driven through little towns like that and they seem so peaceful :) I can totally understand your feelings on tourists though! Hope this summer is better for you :)
Post a Comment