It bugs me when you get in the jet and the other guys ask you where you live and when you say Memphis they have to go off on a tangent about how they hate Memphis and they are so glad they commute and blah blah blah. Meanwhile you just sit there and listen to "your" area get lambasted. They have absolutely no thought about the fact that they might be offending you or your family. We have a lot of guys at FedEx who are from the local area and I'm sure they really appreciate the 10 minute barrage about how their hometown sucks. Its fine that you don't like Memphis, but remember to keep your comments to yourself if the other guy hasn't asked. You can justify the fact that you commute to make yourself feel better, I can justify to myself why I like living here and don't have to commute. We can all be happy without people slamming their hometown.

Now, all that being said, and since the question was asked. I will again say that my family and I have lived in Collierville for 4.5 years and my family loves it. Yeah, I don't like Memphis. In fact, I hate ALL big cities. I would love to live out in Montana on about 5000 acres and never see another soul. BUT, I have this job here in Memphis and thus I will live in Collierville. I love Mobile, AL (my adopted hometown) and feel safe there because I know where I can go and where I should be more careful. I still keep my guard up all the time, though, because you never know when you will be in the wrong place at the wrong time, no matter where you live.

I did 4 years in Washington DC. Lived in Springfield, Va. Beautiful place, WAY too many people, WAY too high taxes, and WAY too close to DC for my tastes. I had DC as my second least desired area (behind Miami) on my dreamsheet my entire career. Never wanted to go there, no matter what. I made the best of it and tried to not watch the local news at night. One of our friends was carjacked at the Springdale Mall with her 2 kids in the backseat. She barely got them out before the guy tore off. There was plenty of crime, and I insisted that my wife keep the doors locked all the time, no matter where we were.

Now, when somebody tells me the live in Northern VA I just say man that is a beautiful place to live. I don't sit there and give them a ten minute dissertation about why I hate NoVA and they must be an idiot for living there. A little tact goes a long way.

Give the area (Collierville, Lakeland, Desoto county, Fayette county) a look and see if you and your family like it, you might be surprised.

FJ

 

i hear the same crap...great post

 

I agree with you! No one should diss your place of residence. That's why I never bring it up in the cockpit. I talk religion and politics, because they are less contentious than discussing Memphis. Besides, when a FedEx pilot says he "lives in Memphis", he really means that he lives in GTown, CVille, Cordova, Olive Branch, etc, etc.

And like you (with where you live), I don't really like to hear someone telling me that commuting is crazy. I've done it for 16 years here at FedEx, and in that whole time, only had one problem, and that was because one of our illustrious Airbus captains didn't know how to taxi in the snow. I've had a captain, as we were finishing a trip say to me "where are you going after we land?" I told him I was jumpseating home. He said that he was going to his $900,000 Captains house (he lives in Memphis) and see his wife, with the store-bought boobs (seriously, he actually said that). I said to him, that tomorrow, when he got up and went out, he'd still be in Memphis. He said "Yeah, I know." End of discussion. If you like it where you live, and your family does too, it just doesn't get any better than that. Even if it's in "Memphis."

 

That's all I'm sayin.

Biage, ask yourself this: In 20 years, when your kids are asked, "Where are you from?" Do you want to hear them say, "I grew up in Memphis." Private schools and gated communities, or ones with "high patrol rates, where people who don't belong there are pulled over" won't change that. Where you grow up becomes an intrinsic part of who you are, and I'm not talking accents. Whether it's The Big Apple, The Steel City, Rapid City, Grand Rapids, Grand Junction, or Petticoat Junction, what a great thing to be able to control! What CaptainMark said about the advantages of living in MEM are all true, but they come with a price. Commuting too, has a price, (it's pretty much all those things CaptainMark listed.) In exchange, your kids get a nice place to grow up.

And you know, it's not just about a high crime rate, it's about what the town has to offer in exchange, New York and DC for example, have TONS! Memphis has got...um, Graceland?


For the record I LOVE Seattle. What a great town, and a gorgeous area! Although, not all commutes from the Great Northwest are NHNF protected, due to either duty limits or turn time. As for jumping into reserve, your right it's not protected. However, jumping into a "First Fly" assigned reserve trip IS.

Good Luck

 

We love you, too, OHab!

 

Yep, to start my current block of reserve.

 

SEATTLE!!!!!!!! please! at least compare memphis to a nice place to live...rain ...suicides...darkness...saw this article the other day...sounds like paradise....how much for a lightbox?




"With all the gloomy weather, Seattle has picked up more than a reputation for rain. It's frequently cited as having one of the highest suicide rates in the country .

Still, depression is common, and roughly a third of Seattle residents suffer from some sort of winter moodiness when the days are short and dark, said Dr. David Avery, a physician at University of Washington School of Medicine who has studied seasonal mental-health disorders for 15 years.

"In the winter, they aren't concentrating like they usually do. They have to push themselves at work, they're sleeping in, they're eating more," Avery said. "It's even more striking in the spring when you see people out more and smiling more."

Like pretty much everyone in Seattle, Avery recommends getting more light to alleviate weather-related symptoms. That could mean buying a light box -- a TV-size appliance with low-wattage bulbs that mimic sunlight -- or just taking a walk outside, even if it's raining"




now i hope you can take it..cause u sure can dish it out...

 

Wow, a guy who has staked his career on finding seasonal health disorders discovers seasonal health disorders. Wonder how many drug companies have given him grants? What percent of mem residents have "some sort" of seasonal mental health issues when its a 100 degrees during the day and tornadoes are ripping up Germantown at 2 am.

Lag

 

Its NOT all you are saying, you can't help but put that dig in there every post.

Again: Some people love Memphis and are very proud of it. I for one would rather my kids say they are from Tennessee than just about any other state in the union, with the possible exception of Alabama.

We're happy you love Seattle and the NW, it is indeed a beautiful area. Leave it at that, the thread is about living in Memphis, not gee I wish I could commute in from the farthest part of the contiguous US every time I need to go to work.

You've made your point, any chance you will give it a rest?

FJ

 

Thats deep . Ok Biage don't pull a Ferris Bueller. Post something and put this thread to bed.