Wrong Turn

Day 8 in Antigo, Wisc.
you know... I thought I had seen it all living in small towns in both Tennessee & Georgia. Boy, was I wrong! SERIOUSLY, this place is unbelievable! I should have known something was up when we got off the plane and into the car to drive to Antigo and my GPS would not even pick it up to give me directions?!?!?! To read a PERFECT example of the type of place & people we are talking about here, please click on this link (this happened & was in the Newspaper here 4 days ago)http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090402/ap_on_fe_st/odd_gps_wrong_turn

I believe it was on Day 6 that my lead and I noticed that there is only 1 race of people here (Caucasian.) There are no Spanish, no African American... nothing other than white. White snow, white people, nothing else that I have seen! And with there only being 3 restaurants in town, a Wal Mart & a BP.. you would think I would've seen atleast 1 person that is a different race, NOPE! So every time I go to one of the places listed above, I see the SAME people at each one. The cashier at Wal-mart knows us, and all the waitresses and owners at the restaurants know us, and the cashier at BP knows just how I like my coffee and thinks it's cool that I have an AMEX card! Now you know how us girls that are raised in the South dress, with our jeans & high heels, make up and hair done! So the women here... for some reason NEVER look nice EVER! They all wear over sized sweat shirts or men's button up collared shirts that they tuck in their Levi's?!?!?! They do however fix their hair like they did in the 70's or 80's sorta big and teased with no make up on! So needless to say, whenever we go out to get something to eat, we get a lot of " you guys goin dancin? or are those your dancin shoes?" No no, we just don't like to wear men's sweatshirts to go out to eat and prefer wearing makeup. Also, if you want strange looks... ask for lobster! Don't get me started about the music here... OMG!

Sometimes, it does get uncomfortable being here, I really do not get a warm vibe from the people in this place when we go out to eat and I walk in the front door, everybody sorta stares, with a look of "who are they and why are they here?" With that being said I have met some really nice and genuine people here, don't get me wrong!. People here are very hard working and family oriented. But I have encountered some very redneck & ignorant people. And if you truly know me, you know how I feel about racism & ignorance. To me, it's really sad, because this is it, this is all they know and if I was raised and grew up here... would I be like that? Being here makes me want to kidnap a few people and take them to New York City or just buy them a Cosmo Magazine or something!!! Now, as most of you know, that the SWAT Team has been practicing here in the hotel where I'm staying. We were told that this is because Antigo has a very very bad Drug problem... WHATTTTTT WTF!?!?! Are they serious, really? In which, they refer to Marijuana as "Wacky Tobaccy!" You know, most of these people here have never been outside Wisc. Drug problem? Maybe a drinking problem because there is really nothing else to do here BUT DRINK! If you wanna see a REAL drug problem go to Miami, Memphis, or Atlanta! This man in the bar the other night told me this is where they send a lot of people in Wittiness protection and you know what, I BELIEVE HIM! I also believe that there are unabombers and other crazy people living here and if there were other races here, Osama Bin Laden would be hiding out here also! I also feel like I'm in a movie here sometimes... has anyone seen the movie "Nothing but Trouble" with Chevy Chase? I get the feeling if I went 5 miles over the speed limit (which is 25 mph here) we would be locked up and not let out!And honestly, I was sorta looking forward to coming here. I like small towns and family like atmospheres. I thought I was coming to a cute small town surrounded by beautiful outdoor scenery & nice people. Not so much the case, Ellijay, GA is Bigtime compared to this!

I know a lot of you was wanting to know how I am liking my new job... I LOVE IT!

I'm glad to have had this experience but as my lead would say... We are clicking our heels 3 times... there is no place like home, there is no place like home, there is no place like home!