Bedford Falls or Pottersville?

Mayberry...so I guess Bedford Falls.

Eh, my little town has pretty much stayed the same since the 1950s. Our crime rate is basically nonexistent, the postmaster knows everyone by name, we borrow sugar or eggs from the neighbors....etc.

Except for of course the drug problem...meth in particular. I've watched a large percentage of our population....an entire generation..two actually {the 20-50 year olds}...totally screw their lives up with the stuff. Missouri is one of, if not the leader in the manufacturing of meth, it's so thick here that...well it's unbelievable.

I'm 35, my two closest friends are in their mid to late 50's, because just about everyone my age is strung out on something, on parole..or probation.

....and the crime rate is non-existent?

2Pack - I know. I grew up in Missouri and Mom has mentioned the increased findings of meth labs across the state. So many old barns, set well of the road, what else could they be used for?

Mom's in a little "Bedford Falls" in Missouri. When I visit, we have to get to the post office before noon cause the same lady has to go open the library at 12:30.

I meant crime rate as in ....stealing, stabbing and the like...crimes against your fellow man...crimes against me in particular.

Drug violations are pretty much a crime against one's self.

Disclaimer!
I actually don't agree with that ideology...the "I'm only hurting myself" bit, just using it for ease of explanation.

Tomball be Pottersville.

I just thought that stealing, stabbing and the like went along with the drug culture. I could be wrong.

Maybe in the urban areas, but out in the country with the "good ol' boys" meth is a livin' and ya can't go round killin yer customers. Lawds, don't we all know that?

I grew up in a large urban area where there were Bedford Falls and Pottervilles in the same city, but I'm absolutely from hard core Pottersville.....

Intrepid,

Yes you are correct...that is the typical modus operandi for those involved in the drug world. The three S's as taught in drug dealing 101...Steal, Stab, and Shoot.

Yeah, that was my lame attempt at a joke...do not feel obligated to read further.

----

My town is sanwiched between two larger towns, about 5 miles in either direction...they both have those problems. Earlier this spring there were three shootings in three weeks {two deaths and a near death} in a city of 5,000. The other city, pop 17,000, goes through phases like that on a regular basis. I believe our last murder was in 1979..a husband/wife dispute.

This is a very small rural town, in which about half of the residents are related to each other in one way or another....no, we are not wrought with inbreeding, main reason being is that back in the 30's there were two large familys that were heavy laden with females, each girl married a boy from a different family in town...had children...and so on...50 years later...you have 300 cousins running around. The town is like one big functional family..so infractions against each other are rare.

"Our" meth users tend to keep to themselves, they normally don't bother anybody, they hide a lot...I guess they act more like heroin addicts....and as bad as it sounds then tend to get treated like..."Uncle Louie, the family drunk"...you move all the sharp furniture out of his way during Thanksgiving to protect him, but then again, you laugh at him when actually does something you're expecting him to do...such as when he falls and breaks your moms Hummel collections, or takes a whiz on the couch because he thought he was in the latrine back at his old Army barracks....

Ok...enough about uncle Louie, back to the meth users....Their family members usually sense something odd, or friends will...but when you approach them it's like talking to someone with advanced and unchecked schizophrenia...honestly, the symptoms are identical to someone having a manic episode. The usual steps are taken to help them, when they will cooperate, dryout centers and such...but most of the time they won't give it up until they are absolutly forced to, typically by facing real prison time. It's when they go "visit" the other two aforementioned towns that they usually get in trouble with the law, usually caught driving oddly, then found to be in possession.

Wow.

The huge functional family part is pretty amazing.

Definitely Bedford Falls-ish around here.

A few years ago, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, my present home, PAID to take part in some dumbass contest to be considered THE "All-American City." Patriotic fallout from 9-11 I suppose, but down here there's a permanent post 9-11 nuclear winter, politicially and ideologically. To make a long story short, Tuscaloosa won the contest. The only cool thing about it was, I got to, in the spirit of irony, put a bumper sticker on my car that says, "I Live In An All-American City."

On the outside, T-town is Bedford Falls, particularly around the historic districts with Civil War era architecture.

But there are a few drunken Southern Baptist senior citizen misers who run things around here. One of them, Stan Pate, is a clone of Mr. Potter himself. This guy has single handedly ruined what could have been a happening college town like Tuscaloosa's sister citites--Oxford, Mississippi and Athens, Georgia, both wonderful places. He has essentially shut down the downtown area around campus, by turning greater Tuscaloosa into a strip mall. He ought to wear a monocle and a top hat, and drive around in a Model T, smoking a cigar and cackling evilly. That bitch.

I do thank him though, for the Hollywood 16 Cinema. That's right folks, STADUIM SEATING just made it to T-Town. What's next, the Swiffer? Unfortunately, all they show are Pixar Cartoons. Like, Ice Age II will play on ten of the sixteen screens. Because Southern Baptists LOVE TALKING ANIMALS. When I went to see Chronicles of Naria, everyone about **** their pants with laughter anytime an animal spoke. This was a completely novel concept to them.

Sorry A2K Baptists. At least you're not drunken, perpetually-sinning Irish Catholics, like my gang.

But I digress...

If you do happen to pass through here, stop for some good food. Go to Catfish Heaven, or City Cafe in Northport for some amazing fried chicken, hush puppies, fresh tomato slices, and sweet tea.

bm