Dissociated Thoughts

When Visitors Won't Leave

November 3, 2021

Prompt: You live in a tourist town. There's always an 'interesting' mix of visitors. But this year they are especially... different. In what way?

Being in more of a country type atmosphere and surrounded by lakes, our small town is beset upon each weekend by what we like to call "Weekenders". These are people who live in the Dallas - Ft. Worth metroplex and other larger cities, but own or rent homes and private ranches on/near the lakes. The full-time residents of the area have learned to live with these intruders coming in on weekends and holidays, adding to the traffic in the towns, and flocking to our stores. As a matter of fact, these weekenders are the reason many of the specialty stores stay in business. Locals don't have a daily reason to go to antiques stores and high priced boutiques. But when the US shut down, the weekenders came in droves to the country, ready to get away from the insanity of the cities while whiling away their time until they had to return to work and life as usual. But they didn't leave after the weekend, or even after a couple of weeks. Many of them assimilated themselves into our communities, bringing their city ideas and insanity with them. "This area of town needs more commerce," they said. So heritage homes that had been in the town as long as there has been a town were leveled and replaced by fast food joints and other "conveniences of the city." Service in stores has ebbed, as employees are no longer just catering to the laid back ways of the countryfolk; they have to deal with the "I want it my way and I want it right now" attitude of the once-city folk. Traffic has become a problem, as our road systems within the town were not designed to deal with the influx in the number of vehicles on the road. City council meetings have gotten out of hand. We have lifelong citizens fighting to retain what is left of the town while on the other side we have those who squawk that the town needs more of the amenities city life has to offer. These visitors have upset the peace and quiet of the country by bringing in their city ideals; the same things they were attempting to escape by coming here. I'm of the opinion that if you want the amenities of the city, go back to the city. We try to live quiet lives with as little stress as possible out here. Visitors are one thing, but don't come and stay and try to change our entire way of life!