From Paulette:

I believe the south would be a better place without those who have migrated from Ohio. They should go back!

How apropos. Thanks Paulette; I couldn’t have said it better.

From Kristina:

I’ll be 20 years old this year and I was born in Charleston. My parents came here in the 60s’.I absolutely love this state and this town, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, but just in the past 6 or 7 years there has been such a change to my beautiful city! Its not as laid back as it once was. Where Sundays were a day of rest, a day to drink iced (sweet) tea, and to put all the hard work from the week on the back burner, they have now become just another day to clog up the roads and push the Sunday church drivers off the road(sometimes literally). I live on James Island/Folly beach; it’s a short bridge away from downtown Charleston. I’ve lived on this island all my life, and I’ll tell ya, James Island was like a small piece of heaven, it was definitely livin’ the island life, well… now just getting off James Island is a hassle! It’s because there is so much traffic, especially in the summer time, all these yankees come down here to crowd the beaches and the roads, the real locals have just about been pushed out. During the weekends and summer days, I stay off the roads for fear of getting pissed off by a tail-gatin’ northerner who thinks by riding my ass with a phone to his/her ear will somehow magically make traffic clear up or make me want to go any faster than I have to…oh, they must think that’s where the southern hospitality kicks in. No, not really, do that to me, and that’s probably where the redneck will kick in….which might explain the often heard comments from yankees doubting our southern hospitality…well, from the way I’ve seen the locals get pushed out, your probably just running into your own kind by now. Don’t doubt our southern hospitality…its here, but, you just have to give a little to get it…kind of like respect, you have to earn it, and coming down here and stirring things up and trying to change our ways…aint going to do it. I think, if you want to come down here and visit for a while, FINE, but chill out, kick back, grab some sweet tea and try it our way…isn’t that the reason why you would come down here? Apparently from all the complaints about South Carolina, it sure isn’t for the hot humid weather and mosquitoes. I mean, there must of been a reason to leave your northern state? Who would leave if it were so wonderful up there and so awful down here? So whatever reason it is that made you leave, don’t bring that down here…and if you cant seem to get it right, then go home. SIMPLE! Also, if you HAD to move down here against your will, and its just SOOOO terrible for you…I guess it’ll just make that time when you do go home much better…for the both of us. So now for myself and my family, we are looking to move off James Island to a smaller town a few hours south of Charleston…which is a shame, because even though it’s the over crowding of out-of-state rude, fast paced Northerners pushing my family off the island, its still a place that when looked at beyond the traffic and un-invited guests, has some small town charm left to it. So I guess the island I wanted to spend my entire life on, the place I was SO proud to say I was born and raised, will be the island and I put my tail-lights to.

Thanks Kristina. I grew up on James Island as well, and the changes I’ve seen have been enormous and overwhelming. It’s been sad to see my little island get so crowded over the years.

I was raised in Beaufort and have seen an influx of Ohioans over the
last few years that would rival the swarms of sand gnats that hang
around their heads.

A couple of years ago I was at a boat ramp and someone had left their
boat in a nearby tidal creek. The incoming tide had pushed it up in the
creek and then had started to go out leaving the boat high and dry. A
guy fresh from Ohio (you know the type…pasty white legs, dark socks
and sandals, etc.) was putting in his fancy metalflake bass boat and
noticed the boat sitting in the mud. He was studying the situation
intensely but wasn’t saying anything. Finally, he couldn’t stand it
anymore and asked me,

“How did the boat get up here?”

I said, “The tide brought it in.”

He said, “Tide who?”

At that point I couldn’t let him go out without at least asking him how
much experience he had boating in saltwater. He huffily informed me that
he had been boating on the Great Lakes for years. He was sure that his
bass boat could handle anything the Atlantic Ocean could throw at him.

Eight hours later I was coming back in and he was just getting off large
mudflat. That nice metalflake boat was covered in mud inside and out, he
and his crew (his corn fed 300 lb. wife) were burnt to a crisp, and he
had overheated his engine. I wasn’t too impressed with all his
experience!

Good luck with the site!

Bill

Thanks Bill.

From Evan:

I have a friend from Ohio. He is fat, sloppy, and always eats my food. Just like Ohio.

Evan, I’m not sure what that means, but your heart is certainly in the right place.

From Scott:

i could go on about this all night long.

instead i will just post the most ignorant conversation i have ever heard.

i actually heard exchange take place at red’s ice house on shem creek.

ohioan 1:            “how long have you lived here?”

ohioan 2:            “almost 3 years.”

ohioan 1:             “your pretty much a local then.”

ohioan 1 and 2:  “cheers”

make it stop

Scott, unfortunately this type of conversation is becoming more and more frequent.  If living here for less than 3 years makes you a local, then the meaning of the word has changed sometime recently.  This fine state only requires that one live here for 12 months to determine residency; actually becoming a true “Charlestonian”, however, takes many years of absorbing culture and history.

I wish I could make it stop.

From Christina B:

Maybe the fact that Charleston is one of the friendliest cities has caused all this Ohio immigration. The people from Ohio want to move here because, lets face it. Ohio is NOT a friendly place and everyone is trying to escape it. But bringing your foul, snobby ways to Charleston does not get you away from the not so friendly place. YOU are the not so friendly place. Not the location. So stop bringing your snobbery to our town. Go home, or at least disperse in a equal fashion darn it! Stop crowding our neighborhoods and roads!

Indeed.  If too many unfriendly yankee folk end up moving here we will no longer be a location of predominately amiable southerners.  We should be friendly to all but invaders.

From CG:

You should print up t-shirts and bumper stickers with the site logo. We need to get the message out there
for the public to see.

We can only hope a large enough hurricane will come soon and drive the yankees back up 77 to Ohio. Personally, I grew up thinking that Ohio wasn’t even a state; it was just a giant DMV where yankees registered their vehicles before coming down here to pollute our coastline.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks CG. We just set up an easy way for you to buy bumper stickers and t-shirts online. Check it out here. Also, take a look at the “Buy Some Swag” link on the right for updates on how to get the word out. There’s also information there about free bumper stickers.

From Mr. Legare:

Love your site. It is past due being needed. Now can we get a Go Back To Jersey,New York or wherever the hell you came from site also?

It’s possible. If we start seeing a disproportionate number of license plates from another state, we’ll jump on that problem. Right now, people from Ohio are certainly in the forefront when it comes to the current invasion.