By now, everyone has probably heard some variation of the “Florida Man” meme: “Florida Man gets tired of waiting at hospital, steals ambulance, drives home” or “Florida Man steals neighbor’s peacock, gets chased by angry birds.” As someone who spent the first 16 years of her life living in this mysterious state, I can confirm that Florida is just as wack as these titles lead you to believe.
I always thought it was normal to find a stray turtle in your pool or that you run the risk of having your house swept away by a hurricane every year from June to November. I also didn’t realize that alligators were considered really scary to some people and a “hill” wasn’t just a putting green on a golf course. With all this in mind, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite and least favorite parts about growing up in the Sunshine State.
Best
- Spending every summer going to the beach. I grew up snorkeling for sand dollars and carrying around the baitfish my dad would catch with his casting net. There are pictures of me as an infant hanging out in the sand with my sand shovel in one hand and a small fish in the other. While Santa Barbara’s beaches are gorgeous, they just can’t compare to the soft sand and perfect water temperature of a Florida beach.
- Afternoon thunderstorms. During the summer, every day from about 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon, a thunderstorm will roll in. You can smell it coming, the air rich with moisture and electricity. Nothing compares to lying in your bed and listening to the downpour occasionally punctuated by a crack of thunder.
- Publix. Safeway has absolutely nothing on Publix. Florida’s primary grocery store, Publix, is recognizable by their “Pub Subs”, incredible bakery and impeccable service. Every person I know who has left Florida has felt the loss of their neighborhood Publix.
Worst
- The humidity. I will take 110 degrees over 90% humidity any day of the week. If you make the mistake of going outside in August, you won’t come back into the house without having sweat through your shirt.
- The general conservatism. There is a 50/50 chance that anyone you interact with or talk to in Florida voted for or supports Trump; being a Trump supporter is not taboo in Florida the way it is in California. The consequences of this are probably pretty obvious. Let’s just say one of my best friends in high school unironically wore a shirt printed with a silhouette of Trump’s hair.
- Dress code. Every high school/middle school in my district growing up had the most stereotypically strict dress code. Anytime I picked out an outfit to wear for school, I had to weigh the risks of looking cute or getting sent to the office. There was no tank top I could ever wear without pairing it with a super cute cardigan. This might be the case at some schools in California, but all I’ll say is I was shocked by some of the outfits I saw students wearing when I moved to the West coast.
Despite knowing I’ll never want to leave the West Coast for its progressiveness and superior climate, I’ll always appreciate the experiences that accompany a childhood in Florida. With that being said, when someone asks me, “Where are you from?” I feel incredibly lucky to be able to say, “California.”