'Tore slap up' is southern speak at its finest. Kinda like 'Fixing to' ... 'Bless her heart' and 'Mama and nem.' (meaning everyone)
I have been having some serious issues with all things social media related lately. My God...people are seemingly out of their minds.
If it is posted on Facebook or X or IG or any other stupid social page it's taken as fact. Most social media is anything but true or fact.
Once the election got heated I should have simply stepped away from it but it quickly turned into a dumpster fire of a train wreck and I just couldn't look away. It was borderline mind boggling. How and why do people believe any thing that comes out of his orange pie hole?
I have faith in this nation, we just need to take it back from the NRA, big business and deep pockets doling money out to politicians like candy on Halloween.
Can we survive four more years of him? I certainly hope so, I just wish we didn't have to. The idiot is a hero to many in our neighborhood. They have his face on the American flag (yikes) and one guy is even flying a huge banner from his porch which reads "Jesus is my Savior and Trump is my president." He'd better count on his first choice more than his second one, that's for sure. I can just imagine God Upstairs, rolling his eyes at all the shenanigans that 215(not)lb con man is getting away with. Time after time after time. Thirty four times to be exact...so far.
I am going to have to reset my mind set. It's not healthy for my mental well being which lately has been hanging on by a bare thread. I refuse to let the orange one get into my head and muck up my mojo. He's not worth it.
I am also going to stand up for my beliefs in the neighborhood where we live. My daughter, who is also on Substack, wrote a very eloquent and spot on post about being neighborly. Look her up, Massey Cotton. She's a pretty sharp chickadee if I may say so myself. Beautiful inside and out, with a heart as wide as the oceans.
She and I offered to help last year with the Halloween party for all the kids at our community park within our neighborhood last year. Members on the neighborhood Hatebook page complained that the same people helped with every party and was time for others to step up...so we did. It was our first time helping and help we did! My sister was in town visiting from Georgia so she and I, along with Massey and her brother who moved here a couple of years ago all went to help set up. My husband even went and filled our huge hurricane cooler with six bags of ice for them to use and dropped it off at the park. Our newer neighbor from two doors down signed up as well and it was a banging good time. For the kiddos and adults as well.
This year Halloween rolled around and we were asked to help once again, so we did. Zachary (my son) had to work and so did my husband but Massey and I did it all over again, along with our neighbor and we did a great job decorating. While putting the empty plastic bins back into the storage shed after using all the decorations we came across a twenty foot long ghoul that had been stored for years and years and wasn't in the greatest shape but decided if we hung it high enough up it would look great and you'd never notice how old or falling apart it was. Massey and the guy running the event (a member of the board) took it to the front of the park entrance to nail it high up in a tree by the gate. There wasn't a great locale for it so Massey suggested they run it up the flagpole by the boat launch at the dock right past the pavilion we decorated for the party, including about twelve picnic tables, a huge grill pit, a stage and big wrap around counter for all the food people brought to be shared. We live in a lake community, and after two back to back hurricanes the flag had been taken down so the pole was empty. Great idea! Run Mr. Ghoul up the pole as a welcome to all the littles, who over half of were dressed as ghouls themselves. I took a short video of them running Ghouly up the pole and posted it on the neighborhood page the next day. Tons of likes and the party was a huge success. It felt good to start feeling like a part of the community. Many people out here are second and even third generation families. I don't blame them. We are a hidden gem in Orlando, who's busting at the seams with development and over building, taking more and more of Mother Nature away for the almighty dollar and more revenue. Sad.
So several days go by after the party, which was a huge hit complete with costume contest, tons of good food, music and dancing. Decorated golf carts and candy being given out from each one to all the trick or treaters and adult beverages for us older folk.
So I'm looking through the neighborhood page a few days later and someone (I've never heard of) commented that "I never comment on here but find it offensive the American flag was replaced with a demonic symbol on a flag pole meant to honor all the many service members who live in our neighborhood.
Really?
Kudos to one board member who immediately replied "The flag wasn't up, it has been down since the hurricanes."
I chimed in and said we would have never taken down the American flag to run a Halloween (not demonic) decoration up the pole.
And of course they come right back at me.
"That's not the point. My family donated that pole."
Okay then, you got your pat on the back post out there, thanks for the pole. We love you, you're great! Had I have known it was their pole I would have certainly reached out (privately) to make sure it was okay with them. (eye roll)
My biggest take away was this.
They complained when other people didn't step up and volunteer to help in the community with parties and celebrations. Then when we did volunteer, they still complained. It soured me to a point that we don't want or intend to help with other parties, and they have a lot of them. Next up is the Christmas party, then the Chili cook off in January where you sign up and pay dues for the upcoming year. Which we won't be doing for the first time since moving here. It's a nice park and gives you access to have a key for the gate and can go anytime you want unless it is reserved for a party or event by another neighbor in the hood.
We don't own a boat to take or launch from there and our kids are all grown. I don't foresee them wanting to swing on the monkey bars or climb the jungle gyms.
I volunteered because I was a part of this neighborhood and the neighborhood asked for new volunteers.
I'm not asking or wanting these people to feel the same way I do or have the same beliefs I have. I was just trying to be neighborly and feel slapped in the face for even trying. It was humiliating and absolutely unnecessary.
As my daughter so eloquently put it in her Substack: "I'm not asking you to be my friend or be friendly with me. I'm asking you to be my neighbor and be neighborly to me."
The whole thing jaded me and (unfortunately) am a big grudge holder when you do me wrong, especially when I am only trying to help do the right thing.
Yay!!(not really)
The majority of our neighbors' favorite won. The ball is in your court. You got what you asked for.
On the other hand you also asked for other people to help in the hood and we stepped up. Then we got trampled, humiliated and made to look like buffoons who didn't care about respect for the flag.
As much as I enjoyed it, I won't sign up again. We won't join the voluntary association again this January. They have made it evident and make me feel they don't want or need or our $150.00.
How sad is that? How petulant and petty is that?
And who does that remind you of?
I absolutely love living here, glad we landed here but learned that some people out here are so single minded, unable to accept other opinions and feel the need to humiliate and make fun of anyone who doesn't align with their own views.
Once again, who does that remind you of?
Bless their hearts.
It's going to be a long four years.
COTTON
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