Again, Merry Christmas.
Yes, we can agree to disagree.......although I suspect that we would agree on far more than we realize. Perhaps my flip comment about having "served hard time" in Pine Bluff was unfair. I did indeed enjoy many (if not most) of my years there. I made many dear friends and had a lot of good times in Pine Bluff.......but unfortunately, the majority of my friends and associates have moved away due to Pine Bluff's serious social and economic problems. On my most recent visit there, my husband and I drove past several homes where we had attended parties, remembering the fun we had with friends we thought we would grow old with......but few of them are still there. In many ways, we feel that the life we built in Pine Bluff was jerked out from under us. The slow and steady attrition of people from our age group hit my husband particularly hard, as he grew up in Pine Bluff and these were his lifelong friends.
I laud your continued attempts to improve Pine Bluff and I wish you success. Truth be known, my husband and I maintain contact with a number of people in Pine Bluff and we, too, continue to try to help by offering our insights and suggestions to those who are in positions to use them. Although we unfortunately do not share your apparent optimism for Pine Bluff's future, it is not our wish to see the town die.
Thank you for an interesting exchange of posts, Axel. I hope that your efforts pay off for you, and that Pine Bluff will remain your happy home.
(Now go outside and batten down the hatches......according to the Weather Channel, it looks like you might be in for one of those nasty Pine Bluff ice storms!)