I’ve heard the ‘gotta take care of my elderly mother’ excuse from more than one of my California gun-owning friends who still live there. One guy is a police officer turning 50-something and has two brothers and four sisters who all live outside of California. I guess he drew the short straw and and was elected to become Norman Bates of the family. When his mom finally passes away, I guess he gets to start living his life. His mother is 85 or so and her mother and grandmother both lived to be 100. Oh well, darn his luck.
The other pal is also a police officer who has some years to go before retirement anyway, but he’s the one who has to take care of his elderly mother because both of his brothers are degenerate criminal felons and can’t be trusted not to loot her house. He’s working to pay their California disability claims because they can’t work since they’re crooks, so they sit around their rats nest apartment all day legally smoking medicinal marijuana dreaming up new scams and teaching their illegitimate teenage kids how to steal.
Both of these guys complain complain complain about the decaying state of California. Every time we get together, it a complaint-fest. Emails are always about this bill and that from some liberal jackass in Sacramento seeking new communist confiscatory money grabs and gun rights curtailment. Our old alma mater high school has turned into 65% Hispanic criminal hellhole, and the neighborhood we grew up in is now regarded as the ‘lousy side of town’, and yearly vehicle registration fees and gas taxes are through the roof, traffic is unbelievable compared to even five years ago, air quality going back to the way it was in the 1970s, and Sacramento Democrats run the show and can do whatever they want, etc. Its a Madhouse... a MAAAADhouseee... blah blah blah...
We’re long past me saying “So F’ing MOVE already” because they’re trapped with mortgages and elderly mothers and waiting on pensions that will probably end up being slashed, and they’re dating this new lady they’re never going to marry, and junior is still in high school, and the ex wife still has visitation rights, etc.
One of them has plans to retire from his law enforcement agency and move to some remote corner of California up in Siskiyou County and be the village chief of police in Podunk Pines CA. I said “But you’d still be living in California, you twit bag.” To which he answered “Yeah, I know... But I’ve never lived anywhere else, so...” then brings up several points already covered above of why he’s trapped.
Sort of reminds me about stories I read that when the hated Berlin Wall finally came down, the East Germans who’d been desiring freedom just peed their pants in fear at the thought of it.
There are a lot of BAD reasons to stay in California, I think you meant to say.
Well you can blah blah all you want but some of us have legitimate reasons for still being here. I take it you would just run out on your 86 year old dad who has dementia. That’s okay, it is more or less what Hubby’s sis did after a judge gave her emergency conservatorship and she stole all his money. Guess there are more people out there like that than I would care to admit.