"from a civilized world out to god-forsaken Kern County."
"The decision makes no economic sense," he said. "This is certainly not what any of us wanted."
This quote was about the BRAC committee's decision to move about 2000 jobs from the Naval Base Ventura County up here to the Naval Air Warfare Center - China Lake.
I'm most likely to be the last resident of Ridgecrest to complain about someone saying this town is god-forsaken. Much of the time I agree. When I moved to Ridgecrest in 1985. I hated it. But not as badly as I hated the working conditions at my old job. So I moved.
I have been here 20 years now and much of the time I still hate it here. But I have resigned myself to living here. There are some aspects of the desert that I like. Winter for one. I haven't shoveled snow in 20 years. If I never have to shovel it again that would be just fine by me. I really don't find the desert pretty. I prefer green, tree covered hills, not dry brown desert. But there are some people who love the desert. There are others who move here, hating it, and end up loving the place. There are some people who are born here like my dear wife, and my three beautiful children. I object to any SOB calling the place that they call home, god-forsaken.
Yeah most of the time I think of Ridgecrest as a God-forsaken place. But it's still my home dammit, and no spoiled, snotty, little politician from down south had better call it god-forsaken. If he wants to see god-forsaken he should take a stroll around his own county for a while. Look at the trash, smell the smog, sit in traffic, read about the crime rate in the papers. Then sit down and count how many people within 2 blocks of his home he can name, or has talked to in the last week. How many parents at his kid's school does he know on sight and can talk to when he meets them on the street. Better yet when was the last time he talked to anyone on the street? Look at the homeless living under the overpasses. Look at the grafitti littering the walls, look at the litter. Look at the crowded streets, the crowded schools, the crowded stores and the crowded lives they lead. When was the last time he took an evening stroll around his neighborhood - after dark?
In the last two days I have seen quail, ravens, doves, a hawk, chucker, lizards, rabbits, a rosey boa (snake), a black widow spider, a toad and a coyote. Not counting cockroaches what was the last wildlife you saw in your neighborhood Rep. Gallegly?
Really now, god-forsaken? Isn't that just a bit like calling the kettle black?
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