In 1986 I saw a bumper sticker:
“Would the last American leaving California please bring the flag?”
Twenty-seven years ago I saw it.
Damn. That's one helluva long exodus. I ripped my family and business out of there in 2005.
Funny thing is, I wasn't even aware of the conservative exodus out of California until I started getting the idea to relocate myself. One by one, friends of mine had begun selling their homes and packing off to other states, and it puzzled me.
I thought it was ridiculous, until a good buddy planted a for sale sign in his front yard. I asked him why on earth he would leave our home state, and he just looked at me as if to say, "Seriously?" After a few minutes talking about it, he said, "It's all over, bud. Our California is gone."
It was only then that I really pulled the veil off my eyes, and gave the real condition of my home state a good hard look. Once I did that, there was no turning back. We had to go.
“Would the last American leaving California please bring the flag?”
Whoa. . .when I first read that, rather quickly, I thought it said; “Would the last American leaving California please BURN the flag?”